Life Through a Dragon's Eyes
by xXxanimefangirlxXx
Summary: The story of the last dragon's adventures with the Spirit Detectives. Read and review please.
1. Chapter One: What Am I Willing to Give U

Chapter One: What Am I Willing to Give Up

My name is Armatage; I am the last of my race, the dragons. You may be thinking that I must be insane, that dragons are myths and do not exist. We do, or at least we did. My people suddenly became sick when I was a child. I also became ill, but miraculously lived, or at least that's what most would think. Sometimes, I'm not sure if I am truly alive anymore. My survival was not a good thing, for there are no more of my people; I am utterly alone in this world.

I have been this way since I was five years old. I have had to live on my own, killing, stealing, and doing anything else I have to do to stay alive. This way of life has been working well for me, until I finally got caught by those idiotic detectives from Spirit World that is.

That's how I ended up here, standing right in front of Koenma, all the detectives looking battered and tense. They didn't trust me to just stay still and take this. That's good, because I won't.

"It's been a long time coming Armatage, but we've finally caught you," the prince of Spirit World says with a look of smug triumph.

"How long do you possibly think you can keep me here? Your little army of humans and demons barely managed to capture me. If I hadn't let my guard down they would all be dead right now."

Koenma glared at me. His eyes look as if he were trying to see straight into my soul. Ha! He could never do that no matter how hard he tried. I wonder what he sees. Does he simply see a black and blue haired girl with pointed ears, gloved hands, tattered black clothes, gold eyes, and sapphire wings? Or does he see more then he dares to let on?

"Nonetheless, you have been caught, and you will be punished for everything that you have done," he replies after a time.

"What will you do, kill me? Go ahead, the rest of my people are dead as well. I have absolutely nothing to lose."

"I will give you a choice."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Surely he doesn't think that I deserve to be given a choice. Most likely, whichever I choose will end in something I am not happy with anyway; I might as well take the chance.

"What are my choices then?"

"We can arrest you and remove your wings so that you will never fly again, or you can help the detectives and become one of them. What will it be Armatage?"

My wings; He couldn't be serious, could he? Can I really take such a chance? A dragon that cannot fly is not a dragon at all. That is what every dragon I had ever known had told me. We belong in the skies. But on the other hand, I'd have to become a dog for Spirit World. I don't want to do that either. I'd get to keep my wings though...

"I choose...I choose to," I struggle with the unfamiliar word, "help you."

The brat smirks. He knows he has defeated me, at least for the moment. I'll get him later if I get the chance.

"I thought you'd say that. Yusuke," he turns to a boy in green with slicked back black hair, "you and the others should have a little meeting now, don't you think, so that Armatage can get to know her new partners?"

Yusuke throws a look of utter loathing at one of us. I can't tell it's at me or Koenma. But still, he does what Koenma says, turning around and muttering for the rest of us to follow him.

I look back at Koenma. I can kill him right now. I really want to, that's for sure. But for now, I'll swallow my pride so that I can keep my wings, for now at the very least.

Before leaving, one of them turns to me, the one with long red hair and green eyes.

"You might want to do something about your wings, if you can that is," he says to me in a low tone.

I look at him. His eyes are narrowed in a way that tells me that he is curious to see what I will do. He probably doesn't know that dragons have different forms. I can look human if I want to. How do they think I've managed to escape them for so long? It's because they don't recognize me most of the time.

I breathe a long sigh and stand perfectly still as my wings retract themselves automatically into my back. The marks where my wings come through look like two thin vertical scars near each of my shoulder blades. My claws shrink under my gloves, and my ears become rounded. My eyes stay the same though. I've never been able to change their color. Most dragons I had known could, but that's just one thing I have left to learn.

The two humans, Yusuke and the other one in blue with orange hair, look at me in surprise. They haven't lived long enough, or known about demons long enough to know much about dragons. The other two, the redhead and the short one, don't really seem all that worried about it. They look shrewd enough to know that they'll learn in due time all that I can do.

Once I'm done, we travel to the human world and go to the redhead's house. It's been a long time since I've been inside a human's home, at least not without having to force my way in.

We go into the living room, and sit down, all with the exception of the short one. He sits on the window sill. They're all still glaring at me. They eyes show a very large amount of distrust.

They still look tired from our battle. I'm not that surprised, I'm tired as well, but I don't dare to show it.

"So, let's get this over with I guess. I'm Yusuke Urameshi, that's Kurama," pointing to the redhead, "that's Kazuma Kuwabara," pointing to the orange haired one, "and that guy over there is Hiei," he points lastly to the short one that still sits on the window sill.

"Why is he doing this to you?" I ask Yusuke quietly.

"I think is more your punishment than ours," Hiei says something to me for the first time.

"Yes, but you probably think your being punished in a way too. Being forced to work with someone who nearly killed you can't be very fun."

None of them reply. I know that I am right, and so do they. The silence is awkward even for me. I look down at me wrist and toy with the bracelet they put on me. That's how they beat me. This stupid silver band on my wrist drains me of all my magic; only leaving enough to keep me alive.

"Where am I supposed to stay anyway? It's obvious that I'm not allowed to just wander around as I wish anymore," I ask them.

"You're supposed to stay here with Kurama. You told you're mom about this, right?" Kuwabara asks.

"Yes, I told her that Armatage was an exchange student from another country, and that I volunteered to let her stay with us until she goes home."

"Nobody said that I have to stay with one of you!" I yell in surprise.

"Where else do you have to go?" Hiei asks.

He knows the answer to that question perfectly well: nowhere. Even if I weren't in trouble I'd have no place to go because I no longer have a home. He's only trying to make me feel worse. He couldn't do that no matter how hard he tried. I don't care, at least not anymore.

"Well Kurama," Yusuke says while getting to his feet, "I guess we'll leave you to show Armatage around or whatever."

Kurama's eyes are practically screaming, "Don't leave me alone with her!" It's not like this'll be any fun for me either. I don't want to be here just as much as he doesn't want me here. But there's nothing I can do about it.

The rest of the boys leave quietly. They're probably happy to get out of here. I'd be happy to leave too, but again, that's not my choice.

"I suppose I'll show you to your room now," Kurama says, he seems very confused. I wonder what he could possibly be confused about now. But, I brush the thought away.

Kurama leads me to a guest room in his home. It's nice actually, with a small bed, closet, and desk inside. Personally I'm comfortable just sleeping in a tree, and I have been doing that for a while. But it'd be stupid of me to pass up a chance to sleep in a real bed.

He looks at me, as if noticing that I'm here for the first time. His eyes study my right arm. I look down at it too. I had forgotten that Kurama had hit me with that blasted whip of his during the fight. Now that I do remember it begins to throb again.

"I'll bandage your wounds. Wait here," he doesn't ask; he's commanding me to do so.

I decide to wait in my new room instead. I sit down on the bed. How long has it been since I've slept in an actual bed instead of on the ground or in a tree? Two years, more likely three.

Kurama finally comes back with some bandages and hydrogen peroxide. I remember that stuff. It stings a lot when used to clean an open wound.

He tries to take my hand, but I pull it away. Kurama frowns, and then grabs my arm in a firm grip. I try to make him let go, but he refuses to.

"You don't have to help me. I know you don't want to," I tell him.

"It'll get infected if I don't clean it, so hold still," he commands.

"I can heal it myself if you take off this stupid bracelet."

He chuckles quietly. What the heck is he laughing about?

"You don't think I'm so naive that I'd actually free you? If I unlocked that then you'd be free to kill anyone you see with a few words."

"It was worth a try."

Kurama takes some of the peroxide, puts it on a rag, and cleans the wound on my arm. I wince. It stings just as much as it did the last time. He looks up and me and curiously.

"Have you always been like this?" He asks.

"Have I always been like what?"

"A killer that hides among humans and constantly runs away from Spirit World."

"Oh, well, it's none of your business," I say, surprised that he'd even ask me something like that.

"I thought you'd say as much."

He finishes cleaning the wound and wraps a bandage on it. It feels better now actually. But I don't thank him. It's just stupid to thank someone who captured you.

He gets up and walks to the door, but turns around to face me again.

"You should get some sleep. You're coming to school with me tomorrow. I told my mom you would be."

"School; you can't be serious!"

But it's too late he's already closed the door and all is quiet. I let out a cry of frustration and fall back on the bed. My head hurts and my stomach is churning. It's probably just from all that's happened today. Oh well, there's no pain that I haven't had to deal with before.

I close my eyes and think about all that's happen to me through the years. There was so much pain, so much sadness, and only very short amounts of joy. Without realizing it I finally drift off into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter Two: School

Chapter Two: School

I wake up with my eyes still closed, reluctant to open them to officially say that I'm awake. I'll have to get up eventually I suppose. Now is as good a time as any. I open my eyes and sit up, seeing a pile of folded clothes at the foot of the bed. There's a note on them.

**Armatage,**

**I asked Keiko and Botan, friends of ours, to go and find a school uniform for you. I hope it's to your liking. And yes, you do have to go to school with us, so go ahead and banish the thought from your mind. Don't worry; Koenma probably won't make you help us for too long. We might all go crazy.**

**Kurama**

I put Kurama's note on the bed and unfold my new uniform.

"Ugh. I really have to wear a skirt in public? I don't know who to kill first Koenma or Kurama. I've never even worn anything besides pants and a shirt," I say to myself.

Nevertheless, I quickly put the stupid uniform on before I lose control of my temper and tear it apart. I walk out of my room and head for the front door where Kurama is already waiting.

"I take it that you're already angry," he says to me with that annoying all knowing smile of his.

"Don't push me today, and maybe only a handful of people will die," I reply.

He doesn't say anything back. I follow him out the door and we walk silently.

"You'll be going to school with Yusuke and Kuwabara. I'm only escorting you."

"Why? What's the difference between your stupid human schools?"

"We go to different school is all. Koenma thought it would be better if three of us were watching you rather than only one."

"Did you make Hiei go to school too?"

He chuckles as if what I said was funny. Humans are weird. They laugh at absolutely everything. It was a question. It wasn't meant to be funny.

"No, of course we didn't. There's no one in the world that could make him. I doubt if even Koenma could do that. He'll simply be watching from outside."

"So I guess it's safe to say that you definitely don't trust me?"

"You guess correctly."

"Have you ever thought of it this way? You don't trust me, and I don't trust you. But, none of us can trust each other if we don't give a reason as to why we should, or can be trusted."

"I suppose I haven't, but, then again, you can't easily trust someone who tried to kill you."

"You and your friends tried to kill me as well."

"We were told not to kill you, so either way, it's harder to trust you then it is for you to trust us."

"You would have killed me if you hadn't been told not to. Don't you dare say that you wouldn't have."

He is silent for a few moments, and then he just starts laughing again. What the heck is so funny to this guy? He's just as crazy as the rest of these stupid humans.

"You'd do just about anything to win wouldn't you?" He asks me with a laugh.

"Whether it's an argument or a battle, I really don't like to lose. I don't see what's so hilarious about that."

"I'm not sure either. It just struck me as being funny."

"Idiot," I say under my breath.

We continue walking. I'm bored of talking to him, so I listen as he explains what I should and should not do while I am at school with them. I've never been to school before. I've seen schools, but never have I set foot in one.

Finally, we get to our destination. Yusuke and Kuwabara are waiting in front, along with two other girls. I assume that the one with brown hair is this Keiko person Kurama's note spoke of. And I already know Botan.

"Hi, I'm Keiko Yukimura. It's nice to meet you," she says as she puts out her hand so I can shake it.

It's rather obvious that she's only being polite. She doesn't actually think it's nice to meet me. I don't blame her. I don't move, and she puts her hand down after another awkward silence.

"Hello Armatage. It's good to see you again," Botan says to me.

"You two have met before?" Yusuke asks.

"I suppose you could say that," I reply.

"How, we didn't even know who you were until about a month ago?" Kuwabara asks.

"It's none of your business, so forget about it."

Honestly, I've met Botan three times before now. The first was when she came to take the souls of my parents to Spirit World after they died. The second was when she had been waiting for me to die. The third time was when...I don't like to think about what happened that night. Botan is the only one who knows about any of this. I made her swear never to tell anyone long ago.

"Forget it. Let's just get going already," Yusuke says as he walks to the school. Keiko and Kuwabara do the same.

I grumble about not wanting to and how stupid this is, but I follow him. How bad could a school be anyway?

I follow Yusuke into what he calls a "classroom" and I take a seat next to him. There are many humans here. Being around so many people makes me very tense.

An adult comes in . I think in schools they're called teachers. He takes out a few papers and begins to call out names. Each of the people around me responds when their name is called. He looks up and stares at me.

"You must be the new student I heard about," he says.

He stares at the list of names again and looks back up.

"Armatage Takashi, is that you?"

Takashi, that's the last name they gave me? Ugh, I don't even have a real last name. Yusuke stands up and speaks to the teacher.

"Yeah, that's her. She's my...cousin, and she has to stay with my family for a while," he says.

The teacher mumbles something that a human wouldn't hear. But, I'm not human, I hear him loud and clear.

"Another cockroach," he mumbles under his breath.

A cockroach; what does he mean by that? I decide that I already hate this human. I don't need a lot of reasons to hate people. Usually only one will do, calling me a cockroach for instance.

"That's Mr. Iwamoto. Watch out for him. He really hates me, which probably means he won't be too fond of you either," Yusuke whispers to me.

"Like I care if he hates me or not. What could he possibly do?" I whispered back.

I keep my mouth shut after that. Iwamoto talks and talks about things I honestly don't know, let alone care about. Finally, the stupid class ends at the sound of a very shrill sounding bell, and I follow Yusuke out of the room.

There are so many humans here. I feel sick just thinking about it. That familiar headache I seem to be developing returns. I ignore it for the moment, and just try to get through my first day masquerading as a human.

With every class I get through, I can just barely feel my wings, begging to be let loose so that I can take to the skies again. As the last bell finally rings and I follow Yusuke and Kuwabara out the door, I mentally celebrate the day's end.

"I'm going to go fly around for a while," I say as I walk ahead of them.

"Whoa, wait a minute. You can't do that here," Kuwabara says, stopping me.

"And why can't I? I won't run away or anything. I'm not stupid."

"Humans aren't exactly used to seeing dragons flying around," Yusuke replies.

"I hate this place. I should have stayed in Demon World."

"Shh. Quiet about that too," Yusuke tells me.

"Do humans know anything?" I say under my breath.

"Whatever. I'll just go back to Kurama's or something," I say as I continue to walk.

"Not by yourself," I hear a voice that didn't belong to Yusuke or Kuwabara.

I turn around, and of course I see Hiei. Ugh. I forgot about him. I wonder how long he's been watching anyway. Ah well. It's not important.

"So, I'm guessing that means you're coming with me, huh?"

"Hn," is all he says as he walks in the direction of Kurama's home.

As we walk, I stay completely silent, and so does he. With each passing step I feel even more hatred for not only him and the detectives, but all humans and demons. I just hate being with anyone. I want to be left alone again.

We reach Kurama's house, he greets us, well, Hiei really, at the door.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to escort you Armatage, but I had some important matters to attend to," he says, trying to make excuses.

He probably didn't have anything to do, but I don't really care at this point. My head is pounding too much for me to care. I push past him and head for my room. A woman says something to me, probably Kurama's mother, but I ignore her and close the door of my room behind me.

My head...why does it hurt so much? I feel so nauseated all of a sudden. Oh shoot, please tell me I'm not getting sick again. I drop to my knees and finally retch. I open my eyes which had been squeezed shut. It's blood. I threw up blood.

I really am sick again, just like before. No, not again. I must have been this way all these years. I never beat that wretched disease, it's just been dormant inside me the entire time.

"Oh God," I whisper as I feel my body begin to shake, "I'm going to die like the rest of them."

I remember what that sickness did to my people. You would be perfectly fine one day, and then the next you were suddenly coughing up blood. I should've recognized the signs before. Headaches, nausea, how could I have possibly been so stupid as to not have noticed?

On the outside, you couldn't tell if anyone was sick. But on the inside, their organs were literally liquefying, causing them to cough up blood. Everyone knew, it meant death to contract this disease. To the dragons, it was something so horrifying that we didn't even have a name for it.

I hear someone come in. It's Hiei and Kurama.

"Armatage...what's happened?" Kurama asks, kneeling down to get a better look at me.

Hiei simply stands there and watches me. What does he think I wonder? Another wave of nausea hits me hard and I retch again. With difficulty, I manage to stand up, and wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand.

"A very good thing has happened, for you at the very least," I say as stare at the both of them.

"And what would that be?" Hiei asks quietly. I can almost hear a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I'm dying," I whisper as my legs buckle beneath me. The wonderful peace that is unconsciousness takes me away before I even hit the floor.


	3. Chapter Three: Ghosts of the Past

Author's Note: If I don't mention that the person narrating this is anyone in particular, then that means it's Armatage. If I do, then it's that person. I just wanted to tell anyone who read this so they don't get confused or anything.

Chapter Three: Ghosts of the Past

:Botan's POV:

I just don't understand any of this. One minute I'm minding my own business, and the next I get a call from Kurama saying that Armatage is sick. This is terrible. There's no reason that she should be sick again.

I hurry to Kurama's house as quickly as I can. Everyone is already there. They have Armatage lying on a couch. She looks as if she's in a lot of pain, even though she's still unconscious.

"What happened to her?" I ask softly.

"I'm not really sure. Hiei walked with her on the way here after school. She didn't even talk to me. Armatage pushed past me and practically ran to her room. A few minutes later Hiei and I came in to make sure that she was alright, and there she was, on the floor. She threw up a lot of blood, but I think she'll be alright for now," Kurama answers.

I walk over to Armatage silently. They don't know the real story about her. Life has been so cruel to Armatage; nothing has ever been fair for her.

"I need to get some air," I tell them as I walk out the door and down the street.

"Will Armatage be alright Botan? She will, won't she?"

I turn around and see a sixteen-year-old boy behind me. He's not exactly ordinary though, he's a ghost after all.

"I don't know Sasuke. I really don't know," I reply.

(Sasuke's not really based on the Sasuke from Naruto...maybe a little. I just love the name though.)

"She's asleep right now. Can't I go talk to her just this once?" He asks.

"You know you can't Sasuke. That's part of her punishment for supposedly killing you. Armatage would be able to see you if Koenma hadn't made it so she can't anymore."

"Is it her punishment, or mine?"

"I know it's hard Sasuke, but that's what she asked for. For some reason or another, Armatage told me not to do anything to clear her name."

The boy is Sasuke Izumi, (see, I changed the last name). He and Armatage had been friends since they were eight years old. When they were thirteen Sasuke's brother tried to kill Armatage, but Sasuke got in the way, and was killed instead. I'm not sure why at all, but Armatage told me to make sure Koenma or anyone else never knows that it was Sasuke's brother that killed him, and not her. She has her reasons I suppose, but I don't think I'll ever understand them.

"It's still not fair," he grumbles.

"I know that."

"Please Botan; just let me talk to her while she's still sleeping. Koenma never said anything about that. Don't ghosts do that all the time?"

I don't know why I bother to argue with Sasuke anymore. I know that his spirit will never rest until he knows for sure that Armatage is safe and will stay that way. It just goes to show you how strong their friendship is…or was.

"I just want...to let her know that I haven't left her alone. She's been alone for so long Botan. No one seems cares about her. Please," I hear him beg.

"Okay, but be quick alright."

"No problem, thanks!" I hear him call as he flies off in the direction we came in.

"You're not alone Armatage. I know a great boy that's been watching over you for the past three years without end. If no one else, Sasuke is truly your friend," I whisper to myself.

:Sasuke's POV:

I head back to Kurama's house the second I hear Botan's words. Sure, I've asked her before if I could talk to Armatage while she slept, but this is the first time she's actually given in.

Armatage never used to be the way she is now. She used to be kind, to me at least. We were best friends. When we met, she tried to hide the fact that she didn't have an actual home, but I figured it out eventually. So, for the five years after we met, she lived with my family in the only guest room we had. I don't know why Itachi hated her so much. He never found out that Armatage wasn't really human. Maybe he did and never told me.

(I know, I couldn't think of another name, it was a lot easier to just use the real Sasuke's brother's name. I feel so unoriginal now. Wah!)

Anyway, when I get there, Armatage is still asleep. That's good, I haven't missed my chance. I enter her dreams quickly, hoping that I won't get into trouble for this later.

There she is, just sitting there, staring out into empty space. Her back is turned to me.

"Armatage, it's me! I came to see you," I say excitedly.

"Go away," she responds, whispering so softly that I have to strain my ears to hear her.

I walk over to her, and bend down, trying to get her to look at me.

"Why would you want me to do that? We're best friends after all."

"Go to your rest Sasuke. The living cannot remain friends with the dead. I'm surprised that you would even want to speak to me at all. It's my fault you're dead in the first place."

"Tage," I say in quiet surprise, using the nickname I used to have for her, "that's not your fault. Why would you blame yourself for such a thing?"

She looks away from me when I call her that. The expression on her face is a sad one, as if the simple nickname causes her physical pain. Has she been beating herself up about that for the past three years? None of it's her fault; it's Itachi's.

"Get away from me. I'm just bad luck Sasuke," she finally replies.

"Tage, I haven't been away from you once since I died. I've gone wherever you've gone. You're not as alone as you think you are. I know you're not bad luck, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed by your side for so long. We're friends, we're supposed to stick together."

I reach out to put my hand on her shoulder, but it passes right through her.

"You see," I hear her say, and I look into her eyes. They hold an emotion I've never seen in them before: hopelessness.

"Friends are together when they are alive. Never when they are dead. You died Sasuke, a long time ago at that. Rest, for you own Sasuke, just go to your rest as all spirits should."

"Tage, please-"

"GO!" I hear her scream as I'm thrown out of her dreams and she wakes up.

Armatage opens her eyes, turns on her side, and immediately retches blood onto the floor.

"Tage, when did you get so bitter?" I say to myself as I leave.

:Armatage's POV:

He's been watching over me this whole time? Sasuke Izumi, such a sentimental fool. It's my fault that he's dead after all. Why would he even want to be near me? I'm going to die soon anyway. When that happens, Koenma will probably send me to hell or something. I don't care, it's probably what I deserve.

"How do you feel Armatage, any better?" I hear Yusuke ask.

"I just retched blood again. Do you think I feel better you stupid idiot?" I yell, frustrated.

"Are you sure that there's no way to cure whatever disease you have?" Kurama asks.

"If there is, I don't have a clue as to what it could possibly be. If you got this, then you died. We all knew that. I thought I was the only exception, but I guess I was wrong. It just took longer to kill me than it did all the other dragons.

"Aren't you frightened?" Hiei asks, trying to make me feel worse as usual.

"I believe that most aren't afraid of death itself. They are more of afraid of two things: How they will die, and what will happen to them after death. I have overcome my fears of both," I respond.

I hear a ring. It's Yusuke's communicator. Koenma wants to see us, including me of course. What could he possibly want now of all times? I guess I'll know soon enough.

I follow the rest of them to Spirit World, and once again I am in front of Koenma. Only this time, I have to be on his side, and help with whatever he asks of me. Joy; that sounds like so much fun.


	4. Chapter Four: Cause of Death or Reason t

Chapter Four: Cause of Death or Reason to Live

"You're sick again!" the Prince of Spirit World yells.

"Well, yeah. And don't worry, you're precious detectives can't catch my disease. Only the dragons were unlucky enough to not be immune to it," I reply.

"That's where you're wrong Armatage," Koenma says in a grave voice.

"What the heck do you mean by that? There were plenty of other types of demons around where all of us lived. Not one of them caught it. Maybe a human could catch it, but it's highly doubtable."

"The epidemic that killed the dragons didn't just appear out of nowhere. Someone created the disease, and unleashed it on your people," he whispers.

"What!" I scream in anger. "Who is this guy? I'll rip out his heart, I'll slice him to shreds, I'll torture him until he screams in unimaginable pain, and even then I won't stop until he feels the agony he caused my people!"

Yusuke and Kurama have to restrain my while I yell in uncontrollable rage. Grabbing my arms and holding me back for fear of me hurting Koenma to get the answers I want from him.

"His name is Kushin." (It's one of the Japanese words for pain or something. They had more than one, so I just picked one at random. I found this Japanese to English translator on the internet, so that kind of helped a little.)

"Never heard of him; who is he?" Yusuke asks.

"Kushin is considered a genius among geniuses in Demon World. He's killed millions from all of the diseases he's concocted. And, he can make these diseases only affect a certain type of creature, such as a dragon, or in this case he has threatened to use one on the humans," Koenma responded.

"Well, if he's so smart, then how come I didn't die like everyone else?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. The only thing we know is that he that unless you are delivered to him in the next seventy-two hours he'll unleash his disease on the Human World."

Why me of all people? There's nothing special about me, there never was, and there never will be. I was always considered an average dragon. I can only be considered unique now because all of the other dragons are dead.

"We can't just turn her over to him like that!" Kuwabara exclaims.

"Yes, you can, and you will," I say quietly.

"How the hell can you say that? You don't even know what he wants with you!" Yusuke asks.

"It's simple really; I'm already considered a menace in Human World. A demon wants me to come to Demon World so that he can most likely kill me for whatever reasons he has. If I do this, then it solves everyone's problems. Kushin won't unleash a deadly disease on the humans, and I'll be out of everyone's way. Everybody wins."

"Sure, everyone wins if we're not counting you," Hiei mutters just barely loud enough to hear.

"We could come with you if you wish. We could attack him when we get there," Kurama suggested.

"Why do you even care? You all hate me."

"Yeah, but we hate someone who's threatening to kill all humans with a stupid deadly disease more," Yusuke says.

I find it odd that they would even offer to come with me at all. I'll never understand these people, not as long as I live.

"Thank you," I say with difficulty, "but I will go alone. You should not involve yourselves in something that has nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure Armatage? We can help you. You don't have to go through this by yourself if you really don't want too," Koenma asks.

"I'm sure Koenma," I say, my voice becoming barely more than a whisper.

Koenma sighs, a tired look on his face.

"Fine, Botan open up a portal to Demon World. Good luck to you Armatage."

I follow Botan to where she has opened the portal. I stand there looking through it. It is my true home.

"Armatage, I don't understand why you want to go all by yourself. Kushin will most likely kill you. You know that, don't you?" Botan asks.

I allow myself a small smile.

"That's the point though. He'll kill me, and if he doesn't, then eventually I'll just kill myself. It has been three years since I have felt that I have an actual purpose in life, and I know I will most likely never feel that way again. Therefore, if one does not have a purpose, then what is their reason for living, fear of death perhaps? For those who continue to live for that soul reason, I pity them. I have eliminated all reasons to be afraid of anything from my mind. I am ready to die Botan. That is why I wish to go alone," I reply.

"Sasuke cares if you die! He's been following you around for three years straight even though he doesn't have to! Do you at least care about that?" she yells angrily.

I walk towards the portal slowly.

"No, I don't," I say as I walk through, the portal closing behind me.

:Botan's POV:

"What do you mean you don't care? You…you…I hate you Armatage!" I yell, even though she's already gone.

I feel a ghostly presence at my side. I don't have to look to know who it is.

"She didn't mean it," he tells me simply.

"I don't know how you stood being friends with her for so long. She's just so….so…" I don't finish my sentence, being at a loss for the right word.

"Heartless?" he suggests.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Armatage wasn't always that way, you know that. Right now, she just doesn't know what else to do with herself. If she believes that dying is what she should do, then she'll probably do it," Sasuke says the last part with sadness in his voice.

"What will you do if she dies?"

"Stay with her I guess. We'll both be ghosts then."

"You can't Sasuke. With all the things she's done over the past years, she'll probably be sent to hell. You don't deserve that, so you won't be."

"Then where will I be sent?"

"Heaven, or some place where the souls of the good are sent I suppose."

Sasuke stays silent, probably contemplating what I have just told him. I don't know what to do. Oh Armatage, why do you have to make such a kind boy worry about you like this? All he wants is to see you safe, and yet you still feel the need to throw yourself into danger.

:Sasuke's POV:

It makes sense now. If Armatage dies and is sent to hell, then I'll have no reason to stay a ghost.

"Rest, for you own Sasuke, just go to your rest as all spirits should."

I remember her words. That's her plan. She's not doing this only for herself, but for me too. That's so like her. Tage is only acting selfish so not even Botan will figure it out.

"Botan, what if you got Koenma to tell the others just to follow Ta-, I mean Armatage, without her knowing?" I ask.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Can you?"

"I might be able to, I don't know," she replies.

"Ask him for me, would you?"

"Sure Sasuke, if you really think that'll help."

I watch Botan walk back to Koenma's office. I can only pray that he says yes. I can't help Tage like this. But, the Spirit Detectives can…I hope.


	5. Chapter Five: Fear

Chapter Five: Fear

The moment the portal closes behind me I drop to my knees. My stomach is determined to rebel against me. I taste my own blood as it's forced from my stomach into my mouth. Instead of retching, I make myself choke it back down. Any other time, I would've just thrown up. But I can't now. Demons will smell the scent of blood and follow it right to me. I can't afford to fight right now.

I get to my feet shakily, and begin walking. I know where to go for some strange reason. I've never met, or even heard of Kushin before, but I know where he is. I don't know how, and I honestly don't care at this point.

I can't get Botan's words out of my head. Sasuke cares if I die, even though it's my fault that he died. He's the only one who's ever cared about me. I wish he would just go away though. Knowing that he's been at my side watching me this whole time just burdens me with more guilt.

My thoughts are torn away from Sasuke when I sense a powerful aura that is coming towards me. Normally, it is not in my nature to hide from an enemy, but this time I decide to make an exception. I allow my wings to slide out of my back; the rest of my transformation follows quickly. Once finished, I take off and hide in one of the taller trees around me.

I see two demons come into view. They don't look very intimidating at first glance, but there's just something about them that seems...formidable. The first is the shorter of the two. He has long dark brown hair and cold, emotionless black eyes, almost like coals. The taller one has short white hair. The two seem almost opposite. But their eyes, they're both the same: cold, emotionless, and blacker than the night.

"Lady Armatage, there is no need to conceal yourself from us. We know that you are here, and merely wish to escort you to our master," the shorter one says.

I jump down from my hiding place, landing on my feet of course.

"Lady Armatage? I figured if Kushin sent someone after me, they'd be ready to drag me to him kicking and screaming," I reply.

"On the contrary, we were told to bring you here without using force. Master Kushin wants only to speak with you peacefully," the taller one says this time.

"Aw man and I was so hoping to bust some heads today," I say as I make a show of cracking my knuckles exaggeratedly.

"Follow us," they say in unison.

I merely shrug my shoulders and do as they say. After what seems to be like hours of nothing but walking a castle comes in view.

"So this is the place huh? Funny, I was thinking Kushin would live in a more mad scientist sort of looking place," I say sarcastically.

"Master Kushin is not mad. He is a misunderstood genius," the short one says.

"Right, I totally believe you," I answer in a sarcastic tone of course.

Another silence follows. One strange thing about me, most of the time I prefer silence to noise. But, since right now I'm probably walking into a death trap, I feel like I actually _need_ to talk. I don't know why, I just do.

"So…do you two have names or what?" I ask in an attempt to get a conversation going.

"None of Kushin's slaves have actual names, only numbers. I myself am number five," the tall one replies.

"And what's your number?" I ask the shorter one.

"Four," he replies simply.

"The lower the number, the stronger the slave," Five says.

"So, that must mean Kushin sent two of his more powerful slaves after me just in case I decided to fight back, right?"

"Think what you will," Four answers.

We finally reach the castle. A drawbridge drops to let us in. Old fashioned castle complete with drawbridge, slaves, no way does a mad demon scientist lives in this place, right?

A man is already waiting for us when we get inside, or rather, waiting for me. This is Kushin, there's no doubt about it. He looks much different than I thought her would. He could actually be considered…handsome I suppose.

Kushin has long, dark blue hair and stunning eyes that are so light blue they could be called transparent.

"Welcome to my humble home," he says in a voice that could be considered taunting. His voice is not too deep, and at the same time no too high. Like I said, he's way different than I thought he would be. (I honestly expected him to be what I believe humans refer to as a "geek.")

"Are you sure you know what humble means? Because from the looks of it, you sure aren't that," I reply rudely.

Four and Five move towards me as if they intend to harm me for speaking to their master in such a way. But for some reason Kushin simply raises his hand and they cease.

"You're exactly how I thought you'd be. Rude, angry, but at the same time…beautiful," Kushin says, as if he didn't even hear my insult.

I know I didn't just hear that. He…complimented me? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. He's the one who made me come here, and yet Kushin's being nice to me? Has the world gone mad or something?

"Please, come with me. I'm sure you must be hungry after all you've been through," he says suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts.

I doubt I'll even be able to keep any food in my stomach at this point, but I follow him anyway. At the very least, maybe I can get some questions answered. As we walk he turns to look at me.

"You may return to your true form if you wish. You're back in Demon World after all; you don't need to look human here."

I had totally forgotten that I was still in my human form. I take his advice and let my body relax as my wings release themselves from my back. My claws grow under my gloves, and my ears become pointed once again.

When he sees that I am finished with my transformation, he doesn't comment about it, but simply continues to walk. I follow of course; a feeling of uneasiness begins to burn within me, the flame growing ever larger with each step.

Kushin leads me to what is obviously a banquet hall. A table sits in the middle of the room, holding so much food you'd think that it would collapse under the weight. My mouth waters at the mere sight of it.

He takes a seat at one end of the table and motions for me to take the one at the other end. I do so, but do not start eating, though my stomach is practically begging me to. I know it always pays to be cautious. This food may be poisoned, and even if I knew that there was a good chance that I was going to die by coming here, there's no way that I will die such a weak death.

Kushin notices my hesitance of course.

"Go ahead and eat. I didn't poison any of it," he says, taking a bite of the food to prove his point.

I pick up a piece of food from the table and take a bite. It's delicious, and for once my stomach doesn't try to rebel against me either. I finish what I have and begin to eat a few other things. There is no conversation during the meal. But once I'm done, I'm ready to ask questions.

"Why did you do all of this?" I ask.

"I've done a lot of things. Be a bit more specific would you?" Kushin answers staring straight into my eyes.

"Unleashing a disease on my people, summoning me here without a hint as to why you need me for anything. Pick either, but I would eventually like an answer to both."

"I can answer both of your questions at once. They're both related to the same thing actually," he replies.

"What are you talking about?"

Kushin stands and walks to my side of the table.

"Do you know what powers I have?" he asks.

This question strikes me as being rather odd, but what do I care?

"You can make diseases that can kill a certain type of creature without harming any others in the area. Anything else I don't know?"

He walks behind so I can't see him.

"Well, did you know I'm a shape shifter?" I suddenly hear my own voice say.

I turn around and stare into what looks like my own eyes. Then the form changes back into Kushin.

"Definitely didn't know that one," I reply.

"You see, because of my ability to shape shift, I have been able to acquire the knowledge on how to create deadly diseases that I have today. But, even then, I still hungered for something more," Kushin continued, his voice now sounding much more greedy.

"And what would that something more be?"

"Eternal life and youth; even though demons age much slower than humans, we do still eventually die, as I'm sure you're aware of. But, through years of research I have discovered a potion that will give me exactly what I want. I have all the ingredients I need, except for the final and most important one."

"You…think I have what you need then?" I ask, curious.

"I don't simply _think_ you have what I need. I know you do," he replies.

"So what is this final ingredient of yours that I have?"

"Fire is what I need. And not just any fire, a _dragon's _fire," Kushin whispers in my ear.

"That still doesn't explain why you would kill off all the dragons if you need their fire."

"Ah yes, I was just coming to that. When I discovered the final ingredient to my potion, I realized that for it to have the best effect, I would need to steal the fire of the strongest dragon. So, I created my disease to kill all of the dragons, and only leave the one with the highest level of strength and energy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the one I was looking for was a mere child."

"You have got to be kidding me! There were dragons way stronger than me when everyone started to die!" I yell and stand up, slamming my fists on the table.

"True, but that was as strong as they were ever going to get. My disease "sensed" that you had the potential to become stronger than any of them could have ever hoped to be, in a manner of speaking."

"And now you think I'm as strong as you need me to be?"

"Precisely," he answers.

"There's a flaw in your plan though Kushin."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"It's impossible to take a dragon's fire from them. They have to give it up willingly."

"I haven't forgotten about that little detail, my dear, foolish Armatage," Kushin says, his voice thick with wickedness.

Four and Five enter the room so quickly that I don't know they're there until I feel them grab a hold of my arms tightly. I struggle against them, but they're much stronger than I first thought they were.

Kushin moves from his previous position to stand in front of me. His eyes stare directly into mine, and for once I truly feel fear while in his presence. I direct my eyes towards the ground.

He grabs my chin and pulls my face upwards so that I cannot avoid his stare. Those eyes…so blue that they're nearly transparent.

"When I get through with you," he whispers, "you will gladly give up your precious fire Armatage. I will make sure of it."

My body begins to shake. I can hear the truth in his words. Kushin truly means to kill me. The reality of this knowledge hits me hard.

"Take her to the dungeons. Do your worst," he commands them.

I do not struggle any longer; I only let them drag me away. I am going to die, and I accept that. That is what I came here to do. Pain awaits me, horrible pain I know it will be. But, I will die before I am forced to relinquish my fire. That is what I must do. It is my way; the dragon's way.


	6. Chapter Six: Help

Chapter Six: Help

:Sasuke's POV:

I follow Botan as she heads back to Koenma's office. I know at this point that she really doesn't want to help Armatage, but then again, that's exactly how Armatage wanted her to feel. I can only pray that Koenma will let the detectives go after Armatage. She doesn't deserve to die, even if everyone thinks she does.

"Koenma, sir, could Yusuke and the others follow Armatage? I mean, to…find out what Kushin is planning. After all, he could be planning to use Armatage for something that could threaten Human World," Botan asks.

That's a smart way to ask about it. The possibility that the safety of Human World could be threatened is probably the only reason why Koenma would ever decide to help Armatage.

"Well," Koenma says, his hand over his head as if all this is giving him a headache, "I suppose that would be a good idea. We might as well-" Koenma stops in mid-sentence, he stares right at me. "Botan, why is Sasuke here?"

"What are you talking about Toddler? There's no one here but us," Yusuke says, obviously he must not have a very good spirit sense.

"Are you an idiot or what Urameshi? There's a ghost in here. You can't sense that?" Kuwabara asks.

"I'm not the one who senses ghost stupid, that's you."

I decide to break this up before something happens and those two try to beat each other up. They look like the type who would do that sort of thing.

"Koenma, you might want to make me visible to them. They'll start a fight over whether I'm actually here or not if you don't," I say.

"Fine," he says simply, sighing in frustration.

Koenma snaps his fingers and suddenly everyone's staring at me. I always thought it would take a bit more than that, but I guess I was wrong.

"Who the heck are you?" Yusuke asks.

"I told you there was a ghost in here!" Kuwabara yells in triumph.

"My name is Sasuke Izumi. And…as for why I am here, I asked Botan to ask Koenma if you guys would follow Armatage for me. I figured Koenma wouldn't say yes if I asked."

"Why would you care about what happens to her?" Hiei asks.

"All will be explained on the way. I'm going to go with you guys to find Armatage."

"No way, you're not going with them Sasuke," Koenma says.

"Why can't I? I have nothing to lose, not even my life."

"Why do you want to help the woman who killed you?"

I forgot, Koenma thinks that Armatage was the one who killed me. I could tell him the truth, but Armatage must have a good reason to have not told the truth already. So, I won't.

"I have my reasons alright. Please?"

"Well…okay," Koenma says.

I mentally jump for joy, but my only outward emotion is a small smile. Botan opens up a portal for us, and everyone steps through.

"Good luck Sasuke," she whispers as I go through as well.

When the portal closes behind us, they all turn towards me.

"Okay, now you have to answer our questions Ghost Boy," Yusuke says.

"Alright then, who's up first?" I ask.

"Me," Yusuke says, "Who the heck are you?"

"I told you that already. Sasuke Izumi is my name."

"No bonehead, I mean who the heck are you to Armatage?"

"Oh, well why didn't you say so? I am…was, a friend of hers when I was alive."

In an effort to keep them moving while they talk I walk…I mean float ahead of them. (I am a ghost after all. I don't need to walk.) We don't know how much time we have. They take the hint and follow thankfully.

"Next question: Koenma asked why you would want to help the woman who killed you. I too would like to know the answer to that," Kurama says.

"We were best friends. I just don't want to see her hurt is all."

"And evidently at some point in your supposed "friendship" she wanted to see you dead," Hiei says just loud enough for everyone to hear.

I remain silent. I don't know how to defend Armatage without telling the truth about what happened. Ugh. This is so stupid! Why the heck does she want to be blamed for what Itachi did? Why!

:Armatage's POV:

It's been hours since I was first brought here. And after hours of torture I have finally been left alone…for a moment at least. The scent of my own blood permeates the air. My body shakes from both horrible pain, and constant fear. Fear of what Four and Five will put me through next.

There are cuts and gashes of various shapes and sizes all over my body. They didn't stop with simple torture using knives, oh no, they injected me with vile concoctions of Kushin's making as well.

Whatever it is that they put in me, I hate it. I feel like I've been set on fire and people have been trying to put the flames out by dousing me with gasoline instead of water.

I throw up more blood, adding to the puddle that's already on the floor, and to the nauseating scent in the air.

"I w-want it to stop; make it all just stop," I mumble, curling up into a fetal position in an attempt to make my body stop shaking.

I hear the door creak open, and I shut my eyes tightly. I can only pray that whoever it is will just leave me be.

"You ready to give up that fire of yours Armatage?" I hear voice ask, Kushin's of course.

I sit up shakily, putting on what I hope looks like a defiant face.

"I'll d-die before I ever let you t-take my fire away from me," I say, any hope of deceiving Kushin is lost when I throw up right after I speak.

"This doesn't have to be so hard for you," he says, touching a hand to my face gently. "I can make this all end quickly. Just give up."

I merely growl and try to bite his hand in anger. He pulls away before I can though.

"Why do you resist when I can tell you're already in so much pain? I had been hoping by reactivating the first virus that lay dormant inside you, that you would gladly give up your fire to escape the pain. I've had my slaves put you through some of the most awful tortures imaginable, and yet you still continue to defy me."

"I w-won't give you anything," I answer.

"Ah, I see. You've already condemned yourself to become some sort of martyr then?"

I chuckle softly.

"A martyr is someone who dies for a good cause that they believe in, correct? That is not me. I choose to die without giving my fire to you because…well honestly, I just don't like you," I say, the last part making me sound sort of like a child.

Kushin frowns. He stands up angrily and kicks me hard in the stomach. I scream in agony. My hate for him only increases. I hear the door creak open again and slam shut as he leaves.

I prop myself up on my hands and knees. Hot tears roll down my face. I hate crying. I don't like to cry, it makes me feel weak. But at this point, I really don't care anymore. I'm going to die. It's all hopeless. My only consolation is that Sasuke will go to his rest after my death. He won't have any reason to stay. He can be happy.

"Sasuke…p-please forgive me," I mumble through a sob as quietly as I can. My efforts to stay quiet are thwarted by the echo caused by this stupid stone dungeon.

:Sasuke's POV:

I've explained as much as I can to the Spirit Detectives; though they don't seem at all satisfied with my increasingly vague answers. I stop for a moment, suddenly thinking that I had heard Tage's voice.

"Sasuke, what are you waiting for, come on!" Yusuke yells.

"Right, sorry, I'm coming," I call back.

Don't worry Armatage. I won't let that mad man kill you. You were my best friend when I was alive, and even in death I will watch out for you like a good friend should. Help is on the way Tage. I'll be with you soon.


	7. Chapter Seven: Remember When

Chapter Seven: Remember When…

:Kushin's POV:

The girl…what makes her resist like this? What could she possibly be holding onto that makes her not want to just give in and end the pain? I will find that out for myself soon enough.

I walk back into the dungeon a day after our last encounter. Armatage lies there completely still, staring at me with blank, almost soulless looking eyes. If anything, I can admire the resolve she has. Any other person would've given in, but not her. That at the very least tells me I have chosen the right dragon to steal fire from.

"No," she states simply, as if she already knows what I'm about to say.

Her voice is just as weak sounding as her body must feel. Armatage is as weak and frail as an injured kitten by now. Most would think she'd have died on her own now. But I've made sure to keep her alive. If she dies I won't get what I need from her.

I kneel down next to her body. Armatage doesn't make a move to stop me. I can hear her ragged breathing this close.

"I want to know why you resist me. Will you tell me on your own?" I ask her gently, using a tone that could possibly be mistake for kindness.

"No…you don't….d-deserve it. Eternal…l-life…will never be y-yours," she rasps out right before she retches more blood onto the floor.

"I think your lying. I believe that there is more to this then you would ever willingly reveal. I intend to find out what you're hiding for myself," I whisper, placing a hand on her forehead.

Armatage tries to struggle, to get away from me, but to no avail. She doesn't want me to see her memories. That is easy enough to see. It's strikes me as being very intriguing. What is it that she doesn't want me, and probably anyone else, to know?

"P-please…don't," are the last words I hear her plead to me as I slip into her memories.

:Flashback:

Author's Note: As far as I know, all flashbacks will be told from Armatage's point of view. I don't know if I'll be adding anymore, but in case I do, now you know.

I was born into a small family of dragons. I had a mother and father, no siblings, but I really didn't care. Then, it was a grand time to be a dragon. Our land flourished, our people happy.

This was true, until five years later. Though I was only a five-year-old child, I was bright. I had begun to suspect that some of my people were beginning to become ill a few months before anything had even happened. We all lived together you see, in the caves of one of the tallest mountains in Demon World.

Sadly, my best friend was the first to get sick. Fricai, ironically enough, even his name meant friend in our language. (This name was taken from the ancient language glossary in the back of the books Eragon and Eldest. Just so you know.) My memories of him seem very dim now, but I do remember his lovely deep red wings.

It had been an ordinary enough day. We had only been talking, sitting on the edge of his family's cave. All of a sudden he was clutching his stomach. I stood up to help him, but he just turned away and threw up blood. Soon after, everyone was getting sick. I got sick as well, but the effects of the disease didn't kill me. Less than six months later, I was the only one left. During this time I met Botan. Though the disease had not killed me, it did come close. Maybe I saw her because I was so very near death myself. I don't really know.

When I finally realized that I had no reason to stay with the dead bodies of my people. I buried every last one of them, and took off. For the next three years I thought I could drown my sorrows in the blood of others. At first I barely knew how to fight, but as time went on, I learned well.

I had planned on making killing my life, until that faithful day three years after the death of my people. I had traveled to a new place in Demon World, hoping to find a strong opponent. I did, and nearly lost my life. We were in the middle of our battle, on the edge of a cliff. The rumors about the place were that many portals to Human World opened up there at unknown times. I didn't believe them. Even if I had, I didn't care in the least. All that mattered was the fight. Because…during the fights I could forget about everything, and just take pleasure from the kill.

I hadn't paid attention like I should have. My thoughts were too immersed in the joy of the fight to think of my own whereabouts. As we neared the edge of the cliff, the demon actually used his brain and pushed me off. I would have died in any other case. But, just as I fell, a portal to Human World opened up and swallowed me.

For a time I think I just floated in an unknown space between Human and Demon World. I didn't even know if I was dead or alive. When I finally passed through, I fell from a high place. The shock of going through the portal clouded my mind. I did not think to just fly and save myself. I fell down hard on my back, hearing a painful cracking noise as one of the bones in my left wing broke.

I didn't move, I didn't scream. My mind was too clouded to do anything else but lie still. When I finally realized what had happened I sat up and tried to snap the bone back into place, but I could reach it.

"Do you need help?" I heard a voice say.

I spun around quickly only to see a human boy of what I thought was around my age. I didn't answer, only growled. After three years of being isolated except for fighting, I didn't want to trust anyone.

Despite my appearance and the warning that my growl had meant to be, the boy actually came closer. He didn't seem the slightest bit afraid of me.

"Your wing is broken. Let me help you," he murmured as he tried to get behind me to look at it.

"Get away or die!" I yelled and pointed my sword at him.

He didn't move. There was no fear in his eyes, none at all. They only held a look of…concern.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. My name is Sasuke Izumi, what's yours?" he asked, then he actually smiled at me.

I couldn't believe what my eyes and ears were trying to tell me. I was a dragon, pointing a sword at a human boy's throat, and he was introducing himself politely! It defied any logic that I knew of.

"Armatage," I spoke softly, despite what my instincts told me.

Half of me just wanted to kill him. The other half was…tired…of being alone. Sasuke smiled as I spoke my name.

"Armatage, that's a nice name. I can help you with your wing if you want me to. We're learning about animals that have wings at my school and stuff. So, I think I know how to reset the bone, if you'll let me," he said.

I lowered my sword slowly, disbelief could be seen clearly in my eyes. I'd never met someone like him. Not even Fricai treated me with such trust. I had not said or done anything that proved that Sasuke could trust me, but he did anyway.

Sasuke moved behind me and took my wing in his hands. Gently, he snapped the bone back into place. It hurt like heck. I practically roared in pain. I heard him apologize from behind me.

He walked back in front of me, and sat on the grass covered ground, motioning for me to do the same. Despite my better judgment, I did.

"What are you?" he asked plainly.

"A dragon," I replied back.

"You sure don't look like a dragon. Dragon's are big and scaly monster things!" Sasuke said, stretching his arms out wide for emphasis on size.

"No we're not! That's just what you humans think we look like!"

"Oh, but still. It is really cool. You're a real live dragon! And you have wings, you can fly. Can you breathe fire too?" he asked along with a couple other questions. I could see the excitement in his eyes.

"I can breathe fire, but only a little. I don't do it often."

"Why are you here? What about the other dragons? Are they here too?"

I stared at the ground quietly. It had been a long time since I had talked about my people. It made me feel very sad.

"They're…all dead," I whispered.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. He probably knew that he had said the wrong thing. He looked up again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you upset or anything. Do you…need a place to stay? There's an extra room at my house for guests if you want to stay there," he offered.

"No, I'm fine," I lied.

Sasuke got up silently and walked away. My mind screamed at me, telling me to go after him and say that I needed a place to stay, that I was scared, tired, and alone. But my foolish pride would never let me ask someone for help.

For the next few days after that I searched for a portal back to Demon World, but it was all in vain. During that time I kept thinking about Sasuke's offer. I could stay with him, but at the same time I had felt like I couldn't. Then one day I came upon a school. The children within were just leaving.

I had changed into my more human looking form. My wing had healed after the first few hours after its breaking. Dragons always have healed quickly. I stood before the wire fence that was around the school, watching all of them. All of the kids, many looked to be around me age, were…so happy. They talked and laughed. They had fun. I felt very envious of them all for a moment, then pushed the thought aside. I turned to walk away.

"Tage, hey Tage, wait up!" I heard Sasuke's voice yell.

I turned back around only to see Sasuke running up to me. He looked happy to see me for some strange reason.

"It's Armatage, remember?" I told him rather rudely.

"Yeah I know. I just thought that'd be a cool nickname for you. Armatage, Tage, you get it?" he said with a smile.

"Whatever," I mumbled as I turned to walk away.

"Wait a minute. I just want to talk to you okay? Please?"

"Why?"

"Just because alright," he replied.

I sighed exasperatedly. It's not like I had anything better to do. I had known there was no way that I would ever find a portal to Demon World.

"Fine," I said.

"Cool, come with me," he said as he took me by the hand and started running to what looked to be a small park.

We had sat down on one of the benches there. It was shaded by a tall, strong oak tree just next to us.

"Tell me, what happened to all the other dragons?" he asked quietly.

I remained completely silent and stared at my hands. I didn't want to tell him. The memories were too painful. But at the same time I want to tell Sasuke everything. I wanted to pour out all the hatred, anger, and sadness that I had felt over the past years.

"I can tell you're in pain," he said, I looked up at him, and stared into his eyes.

That was all it took from him. The dam that had been holding all of my emotions broke down. I began to cry. I told him everything that had happened, not leaving out any details whatsoever. When I was done he got up and walked over to my side of the bench. Sasuke put his hand on my shoulder, but didn't say a word. I had found his presence strangely comforting. I couldn't figure out why at the time, and I hadn't cared.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say to me at the moment.

Then, I had been afraid. I ran away from him as quickly as I could. You see, it wasn't him that I was afraid of, but myself. I was afraid that…if I began to feel anything towards this boy…that I'd lose him…and I'd have to feel disappointed, sad, and…soon after…hollow.

Days later I met up with him again. I confessed that I hadn't been able to find a decent home for myself. I'd given up on finding a way back home to Demon World. My previous efforts had been fruitless.

"You can still stay with my family…if you want," he had said.

I had only been able to stare at my feet awkwardly. I still hated that I had to ask for help from anyone.

"Please…," was all I could manage to say, but he seemed to understand that I accepted his offer.

For the next five years after that I stayed with him. At first, I was only there reluctantly, but as time went on I began to need to see Sasuke more. His smile…his laugh…his kindness…they became a sort of pain killer that I had become addicted to. Anytime I was away from him, he was the only thing I could think about. Whenever I was with him, it made me forget everything about my past. Those were the…happiest…years of my entire life. I lived in Sasuke's home. Itachi seemed to get along with us fairly well. There was no reason to believe that he had some hidden hatred for us.

During that time, the school days became a sort of ritual for the both of us. Sasuke would go to school before I woke up. And I would wait for him outside the fence at the day's end. But on the weekends we would always do things together. Sometimes he would teach me things that he had learned at school. In return, I taught him to speak my own language fluently. People would often catch us conversing in my language. Our excuse was that it was a made up code.

Then it happened, the worst day of my life. We were thirteen. It was the first outing of ours that we admittedly called a "date."

It had been a wonderful time. We were walking home hand in hand. Suddenly, Itachi stepped out of the shadows with a gun in his hand.

"Die monster," he said menacingly as she pulled the trigger.

Sasuke moved to stand in front of me. I cried out as it hit him and he collapsed. When I looked up Itachi had run away. I hadn't known what to do. My knowledge of magic wasn't advanced enough to both take out the bullet and heal the wound. He had been bleeding badly.

I had slung him over my back. I carried him to the hospital that way. I couldn't have flown, too much attracted attention. The doctors did all they could for him, or so they said. But I had gotten him their too late. Sasuke died. I sat there quietly, his body laying there cold in the hospital bed. Silent tears ran down my face.

That night was the third time I met with Botan.

"Please…save him. Bring him…back. Please….," I had begged her through choked sobs.

"I'm sorry Armatage. There isn't anything I can do," she replied.

She took his soul away from me. A nurse came in. She told me I needed to leave. My body had shaken with rage. I slipped a knife out of the hidden sheath in my sleeve and slit her throat before she knew that I had moved. I left them there and ran out of the hospital, my body covered in both the nurse's and Sasuke's blood.

That was the day I lost all control over myself. Blood lust took over any other senses that might've made me reason with myself. For the next three years I did nothing but kill, hide, and…survive. I fought and killed anyone. It didn't matter if they were human or demon; anything to forget the death of my people. I'd do anything forget…Sasuke.

:End Flashback:

:Kushin's POV:

"The boy," I said in realization as I left Armatage's memories.

I left the dungeon quietly, already formulating my newest plan.

"Soon Armatage, very soon you will give me what I want," I whispered to myself.


	8. Chapter Eight: I Love You, Now Die

Chapter Eight: I Love You, Now Die

My body screams in pain. I want to die, but find that my body refuses to let me. I can only whimper softly and pray that death comes soon. I hear the door creak open and I shut my eyes tightly, thinking another visit from Kushin will only being me more agony.

"How are you?" I hear a familiar voice say.

My eyes move upwards and my body begins to shake at what I see. It can't be…it just can't. My eyes are playing cruel, horrible tricks on my mind.

"Tage?" he whispers again.

His hand reaches out to me, caressing my cheek lightly with his fingers. It's real, I feel it. Tears roll down my face silently as I fight with myself not to sob. He helps me off of the floor and holds me close to him. I break down and sob into his shoulder for an interminable amount of time.

"Shh…it's alright. I'm here now. You're going to be fine," he continues to whisper to me over and over again, rocking me back and forth like a child.

"Sasuke," I mumble softly when my sobbing nearly stops completely.

"Tage…do you want me to stay with you…or leave you alone again?" Sasuke asks softly, his tone serious.

My grip on him tightens at such a question. I can't believe he even needs to ask that question to know the answer to it.

"Stay…I don't want…to be alone anymore…," I reply softly.

"Then I need your help. Can you do that?"

I look into his eyes. Mine are reflected in his. I can see my own sorrow in the reflection, how desperate I am not to be left by myself again.

"Yes," I whisper quietly, "anything."

:Sasuke's POV:

"We're almost there! Move it already!" I yell as I fly as fast as I can to the castle.

By the time I get to the gate, passing through every trap and demon set in front of it to keep people away, the detectives are…still back there.

"It's not as easy when you're body's solid and you actually have to _fight_ the demons you know!" Yusuke yells angrily as he finally catches up with me.

"I've been here the whole time. What took you so long Detective? You're not slipping are you?" Hiei asks right beside me.

I jerk back in surprise, having not known that Hiei was there in the first place. Man, he's pretty fast for such a little guy.

The rest of the team, Kuwabara and Kurama follow shortly after. Though I get the feeling Kurama may have been here much faster if not for Kuwabara's…lack of coordination, to put it nicely.

Yusuke immediately breaks down the door with strength that a normal human should never be capable of. But then again, he isn't exactly normal, nor are the rest of them either.

Once the door is out of the way, the detectives run, and I float (though you should know this by now.; I shouldn't have to keep saying it), into the central hall of the castle.

She's here. Armatage is standing in the middle of the room, covered in blood, but still very much alive. But…somehow, standing next to her is…me. Getting a better look at her now, Tage's eyes look…hollow, almost defeated in a way.

The one that looks like brings his face close to her ear, though he is only whispering, I can hear him perfectly for some strange reason.

"Tage, they've come to kill me, to take me away so you'll have to be alone again. You don't want that do you?" the imposter whispers into her ear.

"Armatage, that's not me! I'm right here! Can't you see me now!" I yell, frantically waving my hands in the air, hoping that she'll come to her senses quickly.

The imposter smirks arrogantly and continues to speak to Tage like he's me. He's not me. That's Kushin, there's no other explanation. Seeing him so close to her, speaking like he's her best friend…it'd make my blood boil if I had a body.

"He's lying Tage. That's not me at all. I've come back to be with you, and the detectives don't want that. They don't want you to be happy. Make them pay Tage. Make them wish that they'd never met you," he whispers to her.

Armatage nods her head silently as she grips the hilt of the sword at her hip. She suddenly disappears and reappears in front of the detectives, unsheathing the sword and slashing at them with all her might.

Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara do their best, but can only block her at this point. It's easy to see, one good hit will kill her now. Kushin's made her so weak that they can't bring themselves to attack her.

"Enough of these games," Hiei yells, "now you die!"

At first I was afraid he meant to just kill Tage, but to my surprise, he speeds past her and heads straight for me, or rather Kushin.

Armatage stops fighting immediately and flies back to the imposter. As Hiei unsheathes his blade and is about to cut off his head, Armatage stops him, grabbing the sword in mid-swing.

Tage falls to her knees as blood drips down the edge of the Hiei's sword and onto the floor. Armatage is actually…holding the blade, seemingly uncaring about her own pain.

"Please…don't hurt him. Sasuke…," she whispers over and over again, never letting go of the sword, no matter how much Hiei tries to pry it from her hands.

Kushin laughs softly and throws Hiei back, pulling Armatage up off of the floor. I hate him. He doesn't care that she's hurt. Kushin only wants to use her for his own selfish goals.

"I need something from you Tage. Please, I need your fire to protect me from them. You don't want me to die do you?" he asks softly, his eyes glinting with malicious glee.

Tears ran down her face as she nodded, silently telling him that she didn't want him to die…or rather, she didn't want me to die, if I weren't already dead.

Kushin smiled. I hate that it looks like me. Armatage must be hurting so badly. How can someone be that cruel?

"Thank you, my love," he whispers softly as he kisses her.

Tage's body tenses, and then suddenly goes limp as he sucks her fire out of her body. No one moves, neither the detectives, nor I.

Her skin grows pale, even more so than it usually is. Even from this distance, I can see the little light that remains in her eyes leave. Kushin drops her to the ground. The last bit of flame can be seen leaving her mouth and entering his.

"Thanks again, fool," he says cruelly as his body begins to glow with a strange, ominous light.

I can only stare at her body in a mix of horror and shock. Armatage…Tage…my best friend, the girl that I…love. She freely gave up her fire…the only thing that was keeping her alive…to save who she thought was…me.

This thought jolts me out of my shocked silence and I find my voice again. Other emotions come to me immediately. I felt anger…hatred…an extreme loathing for Kushin that I never thought I would have for anyone.

"Tage…" I whisper softly.

"Armatage!" I scream as I fly over to her as fast as I can.


	9. Chapter Nine: Till Death Do Us Part, My

Chapter Nine: Till Death Do Us Part, My Friend

So cold…I can't breathe, almost like I'm drowning in ice water. I can just barely hear someone. This voice…who is it? What's he saying to me?

"Armatage!" I hear a voice scream…a boy's voice…why is it so comforting to me?

I hear his voice, is it…Sasuke's? So familiar…but it can't be real. Sasuke's dead…and it's all my fault.

I see him…but is it truly real? He screams my name over and over again. I see him trying to grab me, trying to shake me awake as if he thinks I'm sleeping. But his hands only pass through me. My body's so cold…so numb…I don't even feel it.

"Sasuke..." the name passes over my lips unconsciously, without thinking at all.

"Yes, it's me. I'm here for you Tage. You're going to be alright," he whispers to me, a reassuring smile on his face that I would normally believe if I didn't already know that he's mistaken.

I shake my head, smiling up at him weakly. The expression is almost foreign to me after not smiling without a hint or sarcasm for three years straight.

"No...I'm dying…won't last…much longer," I murmur softly.

Sasuke immediately begins to tell me that I'm wrong, that I shouldn't be so pessimistic. But I hold up a hand weakly before letting it drop to the hard stone floor.

"I missed you…so much. I'm really g-glad…I got to see you….one m-more time…before I…"

:Sasuke's POV:

"Armatage! Wake up! You can't do this! Tage!" I scream over and over again as I try to shake her like any normal person would. But I'm not normal. Heck, I'm not even alive.

My hands pass right through her cold body. She can't be dead. This isn't real. Tage is too strong for that.

"You can't die!" I yell at the top of my lungs, wishing simple words could bring the dead back to life, but if they could, I wouldn't be dead myself, would I?

:FLASHBACK:

(Okay, I know the first flashback I said they'd all be by Armatage. But…I didn't foresee this back then. So…oh well…)

I remember, a long time ago, Tage explained to me exactly why her fire was so important. Back then, I couldn't understand the fear she must've felt at the thought of ever losing such a precious thing. I guess…now I do.

We were…eight still, maybe nine. Tage had been living with us for less than a year, and yet everyone already thought of her as part of our family. We were happy together. I can't remember a better time to be alive.

We were in her room. I had been teaching her to read human languages, and in return she'd teach me how to read, write, and speak in her own language.

"The…girl…p…pla…what's this word again?" she had asked me.

"Played, now the rest of the sentence. You can read that huh?" I reply, smiling at how much she'd improved over the last few months.

I knew it had to be hard on her, to be living in a completely different society, among a totally different species too. It wasn't that she was stupid or anything, and I knew that. Tage was just adjusting to everyone around her, including the way to read and write. She always had a gift for speaking though, and could speak a language fairly well after only hearing a few words of it.

"The girl _played_…in the park...with her…f…fri… Oh, I know what it means but I can't remember how to say it!" she mumbled, frustrated.

I smiled and rolled my eyes quietly. Tage had told me that once she learned how to read a word in a human language, her mind almost immediately converted it into the word that meant the same thing in her own language. She thought that was what interfered with her remembering the human pronunciation.

"Friends, Tage. Don't get angry about it. You're still learning. It's only been a few months after all," I said, trying to cheer her up a bit.

"Reading time is over. Something more fun is now," she said with a laugh as she threw the book over the side of her bed and fell on her back, sighing softly.

"Tell me more about dragons. It would be so cool to be able to fly like you can," I had asked curiously.

"What was the last thing I told you about?" she'd asked, stifling a small yawn.

"That festival that you had every year," I answered.

"Oh right, right. The Festival of Flame. See, it revolves around this myth about how the first dragons were created."

"What's the myth?" I had asked eagerly.

"Let me think…I can't remember it exactly. I went something like this: Long ago, when the earth dwellers still ruled the land, the world was very wicked. It was filled with evil men with greedy hearts. The gods saw that there was nothing to temper the evil, and feared that it would soon consume the hearts of all creatures. And so, Doragon, (Japanese for dragon. I found the translator on the internet again. I'm so bad with making up names. ') the god of fire, sought to make a new kind of creature, one that's very life depended on the pure, good fire within its heart."

"And those creatures were the dragons, right?" I asked quietly.

"Let me finish," she replied, rolling her eyes at my impatience. "Anyway, Doragon took the two most pure elemental substances he knew of to make this new creature. Fire for its heart, spirit, and mind. And the air from the highest reaches of the sky for its wings, so that it could watch over the earth dwellers and bring justice to the land."

"What happens if a dragon loses his or her fire Tage?" I had asked curiously, not thinking much of the question really.

Armatage paused for a moment. She had turned away from me, sighing softly before speaking.

"He or she must willingly give up their fire, or not at all, because if they do, they die automatically. A dragon's fire cannot be extracted once they are dead either."

"Why would a dragon give up their fire then?" I had asked, not understanding why a dragon would do such a thing if they knew they would die right after because of it.

"To protect someone very special to them; for instance, a mother trying to protect her children from a demon stronger than her might give up her fire in a desperate attempt to give her children a chance to escape and be saved. Giving up one's fire is always a selfless act when done, to save or help someone dear to a dragon is of the utmost importance to us. We believe that if you turn your back on one of your friends, then you deserve to have your wings ripped out and pushed off a cliff. That's how serious it is to abandon one of your own kind to us," she had said, her voice grave and serious.

I had only stared at her in disbelief. Later she'd explained that she had only meant that to completely abandon a friend was what she had been talking about, not simply quarrelling with a friend, and then not speaking to him or her for a few days. I think she was afraid that I'd misunderstood or something. But I hadn't.

Hearing her say that had made me realize how important our friendship must have been to her. When she came to Human World, there was no one to help her but me. It made me wonder about what she would do if something happened to me. I got my answer five years later as you already know.

:END FLASHBACK:

Her body is as cold as ice, though I can't truly feel it, I know. Armatage's eyes are still open, though the brilliant light that had come from her fire had vanished from them. I cry, mumbling words of rage and sadness as I stare at my best friend's cold, lifeless body.

"I did her a mercy boy. She would've died in a few days anyway from the sickness of her people. You may console yourself with the fact that this was much more painless than that would've been," I hear Kushin say, sneering at the fuss I'm making over her death.

I see a hand put over her face and look up, seeing that it belongs to Hiei, the other clutching a wound over his stomach. He takes his hand away, and I now see Armatage's eyes closed. It almost looks as if she's sleeping, but I know the truth.

A rage I've never felt before begins to boil inside me; hatred so strong I fear it may consume me as I stare up at Kushin. He's moved, standing right over us just so he can laugh at my pain…and hers.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" I yell in pure anger as I stand and punch him right in the face. He only laughs as my fist goes right through, making no true contact whatsoever.

"That isn't possible any longer thanks to your little girlfriend, boy. I am now completely immortal! Nothing can kill me! And with this new power, I will reign supreme over both Human and Demon World. And soon after, even those in Spirit World will tremble at my awesome might!" he boasts, laughing maniacally.

"That isn't ever going to happen you crazy idiot!" I hear someone yell. I turn, seeing that it's Yusuke.

"Look, I didn't know Armatage that well, and frankly, I never wanted to know her at all for all the trouble she caused. But as much of a pain in the ass she was to us, you're worse than that! So, now you're going to have to die. And maybe, just maybe, if you beg, I'll consider sparing your life," he threatens, cracking his knuckles exaggeratedly.

For some strange reason, I smile at his words. That sounds like something Tage might've said about someone else. She'd never just forget about a friend's death and never try to avenge them.

"I'm sorry Tage…for all that's happened. But at the very least…we'll kill Kushin for you. We'll avenge the death of your people…and yours," I whisper softly as I stare at her, speaking as if she can actually hear me.


	10. Chapter Ten: Life and Death

Chapter Ten: Life and Death

:Sasuke's POV:

Yusuke immediately charges toward Kushin, yelling in rage as he punches him in the face as hard as he can. Kushin doesn't even move, or try to make it look like that actually hurt him. He only smirks and grips Yusuke's wrist hard, snapping the bone easily and throwing him across the room.

"Didn't you hear me before boy! I'm immortal, and therefore you can't kill me, or even hurt me for that matter!" he says, laughing evilly.

I try to think of something, something that might help us even a little bit against him. I scan the room, looking for a weapon of some sort that the detectives might be able to use. I suppose this isn't much use to them, but it's the only thing I can think of to do.

Kurama runs up to Kushin, trying to slash him with his rose whip, but to no avail. Kushin catches it in his hand and pulls hard, sending Kurama up towards him so that Kushin can punch him hard in the stomach, sending him flying.

My eyes fall on the silver band around Tage's wrist. I remember what that's for. The detectives used it to capture her. It was the only way they could make her weak enough to beat her. So that means…

"Yusuke, how do I get the bracelet off?" I call out, forming and idea quickly.

Yusuke looks up from his place against the wall, struggling to his feet and staring at me for a few moments before realizing what I have in mind.

"Of course; that bracelet was made to weaken her, and it's been doing that all along. So if it's taken off…" Hiei mumbled softly, understanding my plan immediately.

Since he was the closest, Hiei ran to Armatage's body quickly, placing his hand over the bracelet and using some of his demonic energy to snap it in two, the pieces falling to the floor with a soft clang of metal.

I stare at Tage intently, hoping, praying that my idea might work. It was just a theory. But I believe that if we take the bracelet off, then she might regain the power that the bracelet had sapped from her before.

Armatage's body begins to glow with a soft blue light, matching the color of her sapphire wings exactly. She opens her eyes weakly, coughing softly as she sits up, a confused look on her face.

"I…I'm alive? How could that possibly…?" she mumbles softly, looking from me, to Hiei, to everyone else.

She then sees the bracelet that had been on her wrist moments ago on the floor. Armatage picks up the pieces silently, her mind registering what must've happened easily.

Before she has a chance to say anything else, Kushin throws a ball of flame at us; Hiei and Armatage move out of the way quickly before they're hit, but I stay. Nothing can happen to you if you're dead right?

Armatage stares up at Kushin, a hatred in her eyes that I've only seen whenever she thinks of Itachi. But this is different for some reason. The hatred I see in her eyes is practically tangible as I see her demonic energy glow around her body, pulsing with rage.

"You…I'll kill you for all that you've done. You sent that disease that killed the dragons! You took my fire and nearly killed me for your own selfish reasons, and you've even hurt my friends! For that, I'll never forgive you!" she screams angrily.

"And what will you do about it eh? You're practically still a child by demon standards. The dragons deserved to die if you're the strongest member of their species!" Kushin replies, a mocking laugh escaping his lips.

:Armatage's POV:

He's wrong…they didn't deserve to die. My people were good…a kind race that was peaceful towards to just about everyone they met. Well…I guess I'm not quite like them now. I mean…I'm a murderer.

I smirk at his over confidence, and a laugh of my own joins his until he realizes it and becomes silent, staring at me curiously.

"It's finally happened; you've gone completely insane from sheer loneliness. You, my dear, have absolutely no reason to be laughing."

"Actually, yes I do. Didn't you ever wonder what would happen if a dragon just suddenly came back to life after losing their fire. The remainder of my fire was stored in that bracelet, so you didn't take all of it, which means two things: One, you're not completely immortal, and two, because you have my fire in your body, I can control what happens to you," I reply, laughing still.

Kushin's eyes widen in surprise, knowing he never thought about the possibility of me ever coming back to life like this. Honestly, I'm taking a big risk by even saying something like that, considering I'm not really sure if it's true. But I believe it could work. I can feel the remainder of my fire that he took in his body, waiting for me to take it back.

I raise my hands in front of me, palms facing him. My eyes narrow as I stare at him silently. I can feel the fire he stole trying to escape from his body at my subconscious instruction for it to return to me. I smile grimly, chuckling softly as I realize my bluff is no longer just that.

"You're just trying to frighten me. I'll kill you before you ever get the chance to take back your fire!" he yells arrogantly as he charges towards me, a hand outstretched as if he plans to rip out my heart.

"You have what you wanted from me Kushin, now enjoy it," I whisper as my hands clench into fists and he stops, clutching at his stomach and couching up blood along with small bits of flame.

_Kill him, and return to me_, I silently order.

I watch with an almost sadistic grin on my face as Kushin drops to his knees, writhing in agony as his body is torn apart from the inside out by what is essentially my very soul. He gives one last scream of pain before my fire escapes him completely, bursting through parts of his body and returning to me almost immediately.

The grin returns to its normal scowl as I walk to Kushin's corpse, wanting to assure myself that he's really gone. I kneel down and check for a pulse, and I feel nothing. He's dead and gone, forever if I'm lucky.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama only stare at me as I do this. All are in separate parts of the room, most clutching at a wound they'd received during the short fight. I stare back at them as I stand, a small smile gracing my lips for a moment, but not one like I had before. It was to show…gratitude. To them, for coming to help me when I know they didn't have to, when I'd even told them not to.

"Tage…will you be alright?" I hear Sasuke ask, gliding to my side and smiling at me comfortingly.

"Yes…Yusuke, contact Botan and tell her to open up a portal back to Spirit World. I want to speak with Koenma. Now," I say sternly, and for once he does what I say without arguing.

"What do you want to talk to him about?" Kuwabara asks curiously, though I would've preferred if he'd kept his mouth shut.

"None of your business, human; it's a personal matter."

We all walk out of Kushin's castle and sometime later Botan appears, opening a portal for us quickly.

I look up at the castle one last time, and I already know what must've become of Kushin's slaves. Their lives were obviously tied to his, otherwise they would've come to kill us by now. A thought comes to me for a moment, and I feel rather pitiful. Had the detectives not disobeyed my orders to them and come to my aid, that castle would've become my tomb, as it is Kushin's now.

"I'm really glad you're okay Armatage. I don't know what I would've done if you really had died," I hear Sasuke say happily as he follows me into the portal.

I only nod and smile for a moment. There's at least one more thing that I have to take care of, even if Koenma doesn't approve of it. The other I must have his approval to do so, otherwise it won't work, unfortunately.

_Soon Sasuke...soon I'll repay my debt to you, in more than one way_, I think to myself.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Forget Me Not, or Always

Chapter Eleven: Forget Me Not, or Always?

"What did you want to speak to me about Armatage?" Koenma asks quietly, obviously surprised that I've even survived my visit to Kushin.

"I need…to ask a favor of you. I know up until now I've done nothing to earn it, but…considering I helped destroy a demon that could've killed all humans by sending a deadly plague into Human World with hardly any effort at all, I think that grants me at least one thing from you," I reply, keeping my voice low in case the others are listening at the door, which I have no doubt they are.

"Well…I suppose that's true enough. What is it?"

"Give Sasuke another body and let him go back to Human World."

"What! That's impossible Armatage, and you know it! Besides, why would you even care about what's happened to him? It's your fault he's dead in the first place!" Koenma yells much too loudly for my taste.

I sigh softly, staring down at the floor to avoid looking back at him. He's right…it was all my fault. Some people like Botan and Sasuke would probably disagree, but I know the truth. If he hadn't met me…if I had just kept to myself and ran away when he saw me…he'd still be alive today.

"It's not impossible. I've heard about those temporary replacement bodies Spirit World has been trying to use in case a Spirit Detective dies and you still need him. All you have to do is figure out how to transfer the soul into it and keep it there for a certain amount of time, correct?" I reply, glancing back up at him as I await his answer.

"How could you possibly…? Oh never mind that. The point is, that one, they're experimental and were _supposed_ to be top secret. Two, we don't know if there's anything that could bind the soul to the body even temporarily, and for what you're asking, we'd need to find something to make it permanent, or at least until he dies of old age."

"Dragon fire has been used for many things throughout history. I may still hate Kushin, but I am thankful to him for something. Since he took my fire, I now have complete control over it, even better than I did before. I separate some of my fire from the rest and put it into the new body. That should be sufficient to bind Sasuke's soul, and I can even make sure his body will age like it normally would. It'll be as if he never died at all," I say, smirking lightly at the look of bewilderment on his face.

"How could this possibly have any benefit to you? It doesn't make sense. I've read through your criminal record. This…this request…it doesn't fit your personality in the slightest," he said slowly as he stared at me.

Of course it doesn't make sense to him. Koenma doesn't know about all of my past, just the crimes I've committed. Sasuke…I owe you so much. I now know that…had it not been for you, I would've become a criminal much earlier than I did. You saved me from the loneliness, hatred, and rage that threatened to consume me body and soul.

"Never mind why I ask this of you. I need you to do something along with that…"

:Sasuke's POV:

I feel so happy. The last time I felt this good was…when I was still alive I guess. Tage is alive and well, and she won't be bothered by that stupid disease anymore. But…even though I'm fairly positive that everything's going to be alright from now on…there's just something nagging at the back of my mind that I can't get to. Tage had such a solemn look on her face when she sent the Detectives and me out of the room so she could talk to Koenma privately. What was so important to her that she couldn't allow us to know as well?

I smile cheerfully when I see Armatage walk out of Koenma's office, but she continues to walk right past me and stops in front of Botan. I only hear her ask Botan to open up a portal back to Human World, and that Koenma gave her permission to go back for a small amount of time.

_Strange…she didn't say anything to the Detectives, and she avoided me completely.. I wonder if something's troubling her…_I think worriedly.

I make no comment on it to anyone else, or ask Tage anything about it. She'll tell me eventually. We're best friends after all…at least, I hope we still are.

Armatage slowly retracts her wings, her pointed ears rounding again and her claws dulling until they looked like normal fingernails again. She then steps through the portal and the rest of us follow. We say our goodbyes to the Detectives. It seems that they trust Tage much more now. That's good. Armatage never was very good at trusting people, or getting people to trust her for that matter. It'll be good for her to have someone besides a ghost to talk to now and then.

"Sasuke…I need to talk to you about something," I hear her say. I turn from waving to the others, seeing the serious look on her face, and also that her hands are shaking.

"Tage, are you okay?" I ask, concerned for her. The only times I've ever seen her like this is when something was _really_ bothering her. As in, the last time she looked this shaken up was when I got shot.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Just come with me alright? I don't want to talk here, people will just see me speaking to air," she said with a small smile as she began to walk forward. I follow her, not recognizing her path for a moment until I see the cemetery up ahead. She used to visit this place a lot during the first year after my death. Since she couldn't see me, I assume it was the closest thing to talking to me that she could do.

Armatage stops in front of a tombstone with my name carved into it, and sits down a few feet away. I was buried here…it seems like this place would be too sad for her to talk in, but maybe there's a reason behind it that I don't understand yet.

"Sasuke…for a while after you died, all I could do was think about finding a way to bring you back to life somehow. It took me about two years to find someone with inside information about some of Spirit World's latest top secret projects. So…since I helped kill Kushin, Koenma agreed to do me a few favors. One was that they use one of the temporary bodies they'd been working on to bring you back to life. It hadn't been possible before, even temporarily, but with my fire, they can bind your soul to the body, and you'll still age like a normal person," she said with a small smile, glancing at me, but never looking into my eyes.

"If that was the only thing you wanted to tell me, then you wouldn't be acting like this. I've known you for years Tage, you can tell me anything. You should know that by now," I reply as calmly as I can, though inside I'm practically burning up with anticipation, wanting to know what could possibly be scaring Armatage so badly.

"Before, when I'd first started trying to find a way to do this, I wanted to bring you back for selfish reasons. I realize that now. I wanted you to come back because then it wouldn't matter that it was my fault you died, though I convinced myself it was because I missed you so badly. That may be true as well but…it was killing me that…the only friend I ever had in Human World…had died because of me. I don't want that anymore. I want you to be safe, whether a safe life for you includes me or not…"

"Tage, tell me. What did you do?" I ask. Her words don't make any sense to me. And as I continue to watch her, I see a tear slide down her cheek, and almost as if in sympathy for her, the already darkening clouds begin to pour rain down on us gently.

"I wanted you to be safe, and I realized that as long as you know me…as long as we stay friends…that'll completely impossible. So…once your soul is bound to your new body…your memories will be erased, along with those of your parents and friends. They'll be replaced with new, fabricated memories so that you'll all think nothing ever happened to you. And then…you'll just go on living as a normal person. You won't ever remember meeting me," she said quietly, her body trembling slightly the whole time she spoke.

I stare at her for a few moments, my mind so numb from her words that I'm having trouble registering what she's told me.

"Armatage, I know you feel guilty but…it really wasn't your fault. I don't want to forget you. I'd rather stay dead if given the choice between remembering you and staying alive without knowing you. Please, don't do this. I love–"

"Don't say it!" she yells, a strangled sob escaping her throat as she turns away from me.

"I want you to be happy Sasuke. I can't let you get hurt like that again. I wouldn't be able to take it. Please don't make this any harder on me than it already is."

"But you know Itachi won't come back anytime soon, so there's no point in erasing my memories! We can be together again…isn't that what you want?" I ask desperately, not believing that she really wanted me not to remember her.

"Sasuke…I'm your friend, and I always will be. And…I've learned that friends are supposed to put what's best for their friend before what's best for them. I want you to be happy, and if this is what has to be done to achieve that…then so be it," she whispered softly.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn my head slightly, seeing Botan there behind us. She mumbles something about it being time to go, but I shake my head furiously, refusing to leave Armatage alone like this.

"I can only wish you good luck with your new life Sasuke. I hope it turns out much better than the first," I hear Tage say, smiling weakly at me as she stands and lets her wings out of her back slowly before taking off without another word, not even looking back at me.

"Sasuke, come on now. This is really what she wants, and she knows it's the best chance of keeping you safe. Armatage is doing this _because_ she cares for you, not to make you unhappy. Don't try to go after her…" Botan says quietly, tugging on my arm gently.

"I…I won't. I understand…" I murmur softly, following her back to Spirit World without a fight. Botan leads me to where my new body resides. It looks just like my previous one, school uniform and everything, except it looks sixteen rather than thirteen when I died. That and it's extremely pale without a soul or anything to keep it alive.

"Alright, just possess it like you would a normal person, and I'll take care of the rest," Koenma says as he walks in, a solemn look on his face.

_Am I really better off this way? I mean, the time I spent with Tage…was the happiest time of my life. Well…if she really thinks this is best… She is using part of her fire to bind me to the body after all, so she really must think so. Well…this is goodbye I guess. I only wish Tage were here to actually say that…_I think sadly as I possess the body and wait silently.

Koenma takes out a small container and holds it up over my new body. I can see what's inside: Armatage's fire. Dragon fire has always been amazing to me, especially hers since I've nothing else to compare it to except for normal fire. It's only a small bit, the flame a sapphire that matches the color of her wings. It seems just like her when I think about it. The very color matches her personality exactly. It's not a normal blue, but a deeper one. Just like how Tage is. She may be harsh and cold on the outside now, but I know the Armatage I fell in love with is deeper inside, being hidden for fear of being hurt again. In all honestly, I feel responsible for making her that way sometimes. Ironically, she feels responsible for my death as well.

I say anything as I watch Koenma carefully take the top off of the container and let the flame jump out almost immediately. It doesn't burn me as it leaves the container and enters my new body, disappearing through the skin without causing me any pain.

My eyes widen slightly as I suddenly feel much heavier, having to follow the laws of gravity after so long hitting me like a brick. I gasp, taking my first needed breath of air in three years. I no longer have to worry about keeping a possession on the body; my soul's been bound to it like a normal person's would be. Well…sort of.

"It's almost over Sasuke. Now get some rest and you'll wake up back at home like none of this ever happened," Botan said, trying to smile at me comfortingly, but I could see that she didn't like this either.

I only nod silently, the action a little difficult because I feel entirely too heavy now that I have to get used to being weighted down to the ground like I used to be. I close my eyes slowly, wishing that it would just stop here, that I could keep my memories and stay with Armatage. But…in the end, I know she's right. I fall into unconsciousness, my very last thoughts of her.

_Tage…_

:Armatage's POV:

I smile weakly as I walk in, seeing Sasuke laying there on the table unconscious. I'm not happy about this, just that I know he'll be safe and have a normal life again. That's all that matters to me now.

"You've sent Hiei to wipe his parents' minds too right; along with his friends?" I ask softly, brushing a few strands of hair away from his face.

"Yes, and he promises not to tell anyone. Though, just to warn you, he'll probably give you a hard time about all this for a while," Botan replies, having sent Koenma out of the room sometime ago.

"Good, and don't worry about that. I really couldn't care less at this point."

"Armatage…what do you plan on doing now? Go back to Demon World maybe? You have no other place to go…"

"I'll watch him for a while, just to make sure everything's alright. After that…my plans are my own business."

"Listen, I know you're angry at Itachi for all of this but…you're not going to try and find him are you? He was trying to kill you after all; killing Sasuke instead of pure accident.

"I know that. I never said I was going after him," I say sternly.

"True, and though I don't know you nearly as well as Sasuke does, I do know that look on your face means you have something dangerous in mind. You know as well as I do that even he can kill you easily, especially in the state you're in now. You haven't even regained half of your strength yet," she says worriedly.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not going to try and find him Botan. I don't care anymore. He wouldn't dare show his face after murdering his own brother," I reply, sighing softly as I pick Sasuke up carefully, trying not to wake him up.

"I'm bringing him back home. If he remembers anything when he wakes up, he'll most likely think it was all a dream."

I walk out and Botan follows me, summoning another portal and letting me leave without another word on the matter. I fly high above the rooftops of Human World, making sure not to go too fast so he doesn't wake up. Finally, I descend, landing on the roof of his house and then jumping off quickly, flapping my wings only once to keep me up long enough to get into the window of his room.

I lay him down on the bed and put a blanket over him, trying to make it look like he'd been sleeping fitfully the entire night. I sigh softly, hugging him gently before standing up and walking towards the window again.

"Be safe…" I say before jumping out and landing on the ground beside his house, retracting my wings and walking off silently into the night.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Normalcy

Chapter Twelve: Normalcy

::Sasuke's POV::

I wake slowly, opening my eyes silently and sitting up. I can see the sun's golden light streaming through the only window in my room, and for a few seconds an image passes behind through my mind. Eyes of the very same color…who do they belong to though?

"Just a dream I guess," I mumble through a yawn before getting up and dressing for school quickly, seeing that I'm already a bit late, but not enough for me to be worried about being late for school entirely.

I leave my room and head to the kitchen, wolfing down a piece of toast and taking a sip of the orange juice that had been left out for me before heading out the door quickly. I feel…strange today, though nothing seems significantly different about it than any other. It's almost as if something's…missing, from my life. Something important, but I don't know what it is.

I push the thought to the back of my mind to contemplate later, continuing on my way to school quickly before I get too caught up in my thoughts and accidentally make myself late for school.

I sit down in my desk, pulling out a book to pass the time that I have to wait before class starts, not that I'm all that eager to be at school.

"Sasuke, what're you doing here?" I hear someone say behind me, and I turn around to see who it is a moment later.

I feel like I've met him before, but I can't remember his name or where I've seen him before for some strange reason. Obviously from around school since he goes to the same school as me but…why can't I remember?

"Uh…sorry, but…do I know you?" I ask.

The boy who called my name isn't even wearing the school uniform. His clothes are green instead of blue like the uniform, and his hair is slicked back. I still can't shake the feeling that I've talked to him just recently, but I ignore it.

His eyes widen slightly at my question, as if he expects me to know who he is.

"Where have you been for the past couple of days?" he asks suddenly, though I don't really understand what that has to do with anything.

"At home studying like I always do on the weekends. Why do you care?"

He stares at me for a few moments, as if trying to decide whether he should keep talking to me or not. Maybe this guy is crazy or something. I can't really remember ever meeting him, though I feel like I have. In my case, it's probably...what do you call it? Déjà vu or something I think. Either that or I'm just being paranoid.

"Uh…never mind. You just look like somebody I used to know, my mistake," he replies after a while.

I shrug my shoulders silently and turn back around once Mr. Iwamoto starts lecturing. It's boring, as usual, and I stare at a particular space on the chalkboard so it looks like I'm actually watching him and listening to what he's saying, rather than staring off into space and daydreaming.

Before I knew it, the class was over and it was time for lunch. I didn't bother to stay and eat with everyone else. I grabbed my lunch and walked up to the roof so no one would bother me. Normally I'm not so anti-social, but today…I just feel…strange, like something's missing.

I eat my lunch slowly, but soon give up on it altogether. I'm not hungry right now. I look down at the watch on my wrist, seeing that I still have about twenty minutes before I have to go back to class.

_Well…I might as well get some sleep while I have the chance…_ I think to myself as I lay back and stare up at the sky for a few moments before closing my eyes and falling asleep.

::Dream Sequence::

It's storming outside, and a crack of thunder sounds at least once every few minutes. I'm ten years old again, asleep in my own room. I hear the door open and shut quickly, and I open my eyes to see someone in front of me.

It's a girl about my age, with beautiful golden eyes that seem almost unreal. She's shaking, and yelps softly when another crack of thunder sounds and a bolt of lightening lights up my room for a few seconds.

"If I fly…it'll get me…," she mumbles softly.

I feel like this happened a long time ago, and now I'm watching it through a T.V. in a way. It's strange, why do I feel like I know that girl?

I see my younger self smile comfortingly and sit up, motioning for her to sit on the bed beside him…me, I guess.

"It'll be alright. Just don't go out while it's raining. I didn't know you were even afraid of thunder," I reply.

The girl shakes her head, twisting a strand of black and blue streaked hair around her fingers nervously.

"Not thunder, that's just sound. Lightening can kill us. Lots of dragons used to go out during storms like this, because their friends dared them too. I watched this one guy my age do it once. He got hit…and he fell. Dead before he even hit the ground," she whispers, her hands shaking slightly as she looks out the window.

"Oh…so whenever the weather gets like this…that's what you think of isn't it? You pity them, the people who went out in a storm and never came back. You think that might happen to you someday," I reply.

She nods. This girl…she seems so real to me. I know my imagination couldn't have dreamt her up. Heck, I can't even write a good story for school. I wish I knew who she was, if she was real or not. Right now…she seems so…so helpless.

"Can I…stay here for a little while; until the storm stops at least? I haven't been able to sleep at all since it started," she asks.

My younger self smiles at her and nods, then walks to the closet and pulls out an extra blanket for her. Why does he…why do I…seem so close to that girl? I don't understand. What is she talking about? Dragons, flying; it all sounds like she really knows what she's talking about. But…she looks human to me.

"You don't have to be scared of that anymore. You're not in Demon World after all. As long as you're with me, nothing bad will ever happen to you, promise. I'll always protect you Tage," I tell her.

The girl smiles happily, hugging me affectionately before taking the blanket and lying down on the floor. I can tell that she really believes what I said. This seems…so real…_too_ real to just be a dream.

::End Dream Sequence::

I sit up immediately and look around. I hear the thunder, even see lightening again. But…it's for real this time. It's raining...I should be soaked from the downpour…why aren't I?

I now see that I was moved while I was sleeping, though it couldn't have been a classmate or a teacher. If it had been, he or she would've woken me up and made me go back to class. Whoever it was, he or she moved me sit behind the door of the entrance to the roof, though they left the door open still.

_Tage…was it you? Are you…truly alive? Or…maybe you're just something that my mind made up on its own. I hope you are real. Maybe…I'll find you someday. But…if you are real…and I knew you…why can't I remember you?_ I think as I stare out into the storm. I see a glint of sapphire out of the corner of my eye when another bolt of lightening strikes, and I turn to look immediately. But it's gone before I see what it is. I sigh disappointedly before standing up and going back to class.

"Bye…" I mutter under my breath, saying goodbye to her if she's hiding somewhere nearby, though I know it's childish. She can't be real.

::Armatage's POV::

"Goodbye…Sasuke," I whisper as I fly away, glad that since it's raining, almost everyone is inside taking shelter, so nobody sees me.

As much as I hate to fly during storms like this, I had to check on him for just a little while. He's better off this way. He has to be. I've only caused him trouble. Now, as long as he doesn't know I exist, I can protect him without worry.

I fly back to where I've been staying since I came back to Human World: an old abandoned house that's in need of serious repair. I let my wings retract before walking inside, not wanting to accidentally damage them by hitting them on a piece of broken wood in the walls.

At first I didn't know how long it would take for me to find a place for me to stay. I didn't want to go back to Demon World without knowing if Sasuke would be alright. It took me a while, but I finally found a place to stay. It's not in the best shape, but it's adequate for the time being.

Another board in the floor cracks under my weight, and I nearly trip as I feel my right foot fall into the newest hole. I utter a string of curses under my breath and pull it out, now being much more careful not to make things worse as I walk the rest of the way to my room.

I lie down on the bare mattress that was left behind by whoever previously lived here. I made sure that nobody occupies it now of course. The smell of humans in this house is much too faint for there to be anyone living in it currently. Nowadays when I get bored, I make up things about what the family who lived here was like. In the back of my mind, I know such thoughts are merely distractions to keep what's really bothering me at bay, but right now, I just don't care.

Another crack of thunder is heard, and I cringe slightly, wishing I could make myself deaf whenever I wanted so I could just ignore it. I've gotten over my fear of thunder storms a little. I'll fly in them if I must, but they still scare me to death sometimes.

I turn on my side, closing my eyes and trying to sleep in order to keep myself from worrying about Sasuke, or just thinking at this point. Life seems so…empty now. I can't talk to Sasuke, if I try to take out my anger on any humans I'll just get into more trouble, and I can't go back to Demon World because that'll just make the loneliness I feel even stronger.

I feel like the embodiment of loneliness must be some sort of parasitic demon, trying to eat me from the inside out and finally kill me.

_I wish…it would all just stop…_

More thunder sounds and I curl up in a ball, my body shaking violently as I try to shut out the annoying sound that frightens me so badly. I hear something crackle beneath me, and I sit up, seeing a plain white envelope under me that I hadn't noticed before. It doesn't have a name on it, but it's addressed to…me.

I tear the envelope open quickly and unfold the letter that's inside.

**Armatage,**

**I'm surprised you had the will to go on living after all that's happened to you. I blame myself for that at least. You were supposed to die that night, not Sasuke. Let's just attribute it to…a beginner's mistake. I heard you went on some sort of killing spree after what happened. I must say, I'm highly disappointed in you. Sasuke always had to keep telling me that you weren't the blood thirsty monster I said you were, that you were a good person. You proved my point quite well. You're a monster that doesn't deserve to live. Whether revenge for what happened to Sasuke, or just another person to kill will motivate you, I'm not sure. But either way, come to the cemetery where he used to be buried. Expect only one of us to leave, and I highly doubt it will be you. **

**Looking Forward to Your Death,**

I rip the letter into shreds, throwing the pieces up into the air and blowing fire on them angrily.

"Itachi…"


	13. Chapter Thirteen: I Tried

Chapter Thirteen: I Tried…

(Okay people, I wrote the vast majority of this chapter while in the hospital waiting to see my grandmother. So, if you guys think this isn't all that good, which I don't think it is either…you now know why. So please don't bug me about the length of it being shorter than usual and stuff like that. It's the best I could do, and I was only writing this at the time to keep my mind off of where I was. Hospitals depress me.)

"Do you plan on going?" I hear a voice from behind me ask. I spin around quickly; glad to see that it's only Hiei and not a real enemy.

"Going where? I have no clue what you're talking about," I answer. He didn't read the note, so how could he possibly know what it said? Then again, I never even heard him come in the house. He could've been reading over my shoulder and I wouldn't have noticed.

"Don't play dumb with me. You may have already shredded the note, but I can read minds. I'll ask again, do you plan on going?" he asks sternly.

I sigh tiredly. He shouldn't be here, let alone be asking questions that have nothing to do with him. I still have to help the Detectives, but only when I'm ordered to do so. Other than that, they should all just mind their own business and leave me alone.

"I don't know yet. It would probably only cause more trouble than good."

"Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Izumi; he's really the one who's responsible for his brother's death, not you. Is that right?" he asks calmly, though I just barely catch a faint smile on his face caused by my look of surprise that vanishes just as quickly as it came.

"How…how could you possibly know about him? And how the hell did you find out that it was him and not me?" I ask, my shock at his knowledge suddenly turning into rage.

He smirks arrogantly, obviously amused by my reaction.

"I've stolen things from Spirit World before. Obtaining simple information was far easier than that."

"But the only person in Spirit World who knows the truth is Botan, and I made her swear never to tell a soul," I reply. I never thought it would be Botan who would betray me. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. Just about everyone I've ever trusted has always betrayed me, why should it be any different now?

"It was probably more difficult for her to conceal the truth from us now that Sasuke is alive again. That's really what intrigued me the most. Why go to such great lengths to conceal who his true killer was by framing yourself…if you…_care_ for him so much?" he asks curiously. The last part seems rather hard for him to say, probably because any association between demons and humans, (other than demons killing humans that is), let alone love, is frowned upon.

I stare at the floor for what seems to be like hours, though I know only a minute at the most has passed.

"When the rest of the dragons died out, I didn't know what to do with myself. Without a known purpose in life, I wandered around Demon World killing everyone who was stupid enough to get in my way. In a way...I was happy when that happened, because in those short moments when I could lose myself in a fight…I was able to forget that I was completely alone. Fighting became a sort of drug for me after a time."

I pause in my explanation, trying to think of the best way to express what happened to me years later. I look up and see him watching me expectantly, though he doesn't ask me to keep going.

"I came to Human World by accident, and when I fell through the portal, I landed hard on my back from about ten feet up in the air. It broke one of my wings of course. Sasuke had been there…and he reset the bone for me. I came to live with him and his family a while later. Five years later…Itachi tried to shoot me, and Sasuke blocked the bullet with his own body. I tried…I really tried to get him to the hospital in time…but he'd lost too much blood by then."

"So am I to understand that you really believe that you're to blame for his death?" Hiei asks in an almost mocking tone. He probably thinks it isn't really my fault, and that what I feel is just guilt for not being able to save Sasuke. He's…almost right. That does have something to do with it.

I chuckle softly at his words. I suppose that would be the conclusion just about anyone would first come to.

"I'll give you half credit for the effort, but you would probably only be able to come to that conclusion no matter how much time I gave you."

He raises an eyebrow slightly, obviously surprised that he could ever be wrong. It's my turn to smirk at his reaction this time, amused by his uncertainty.

"Well then, what's the rest of the answer?" he asks after a time.

I smile lightly and walk past him and continue on until I reach the front door of the house. I don't even have to bother to open the door, since it's hanging on one hinge anyway. Apparently, whoever used to live here left because he or she didn't want to make the effort of fixing their obviously poorly built home, and just abandoned it. Since then, I can tell that the only people who've been living here are probably just human teenagers trying to get away with drinking when they're not supposed to be, judging by the numerous beer bottles I found when I first started living here.

"Are you going to answer me, Dragon?" I hear him ask, aggravated by my sudden silence.

I shake my head in reply as I allow my wings to come out of my back slowly.

"It's not something you need to know," I say as I take one step outside and then immediately take off, soaring high into the air with the help of an updraft.

Truth be told, the biggest reason as to why I framed myself for Sasuke's death is…well, I was ashamed of myself. After the rest of the dragons died out, I took great pride in the fact that I still managed to live on all by myself without needing help from anyone else. Then, when I came to Human World…my resolve to do so just seemed to melt away whenever I was around Sasuke.

Thinking back, it was really right after Sasuke died that I realized that I'd become soft during my years living with the Izumi family. The shame I felt from the realization of my weakness is really why I wanted to be blamed for Sasuke's death. I have always cared for Sasuke, and I have never been able to bring myself to hate him for making me this way. But…

"I must accept my punishment for causing him such pain, but…I won't allow the one who really killed him to live either. Itachi and I will go to hell together…"


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Is This Really the End

Chapter Fourteen: Is This Really the End?

::Hiei's POV::

I don't bother to chase after the dragon; if she wants to get herself killed again, then that only means that there will be one less person to annoy me.

"Hiei, what the hell are you doing here? Where's Armatage?" I hear as Yusuke walks in, looking around a bit at his new surroundings. He makes a face that definitely indicates his disgust at the place. I'm not surprised. I highly doubt she's bothered to clean this place up at all, probably because she knew she wasn't going to be here for very much longer.

"You just missed her. She flew off to…go answer a letter," I answer, shrugging my shoulders indifferently.

"Sasuke was at my school today, alive. He doesn't remember me, or Kuwabara, or anything else that's happened in the last few days. If he does, then he's doing a pretty good job of hiding it. Why…_how_ can he be alive now? Didn't he die years ago? I mean, I know I came back when I died, but that was totally different. I still had a body to come back to. I meant to come and ask her about it but…I don't suppose you know anything about it right?" he asks. Obviously, he doesn't trust me when it comes to things like this. I could just pretend not to know anything, but it would probably only mean being interrogated further later on, and that would just be a pain.

"I don't know all of the details, but I do know that it was Armatage who asked for him to be brought back to life. I don't know where she got the information that told her it was possible, but that's beside the point. The boy is alive because she wanted him to be. He doesn't remember because apparently, she didn't want him to. Maybe it's just residual guilt for killing him, how should I know what that woman thinks? If you ask me, she's acting just like a stupid human; much too emotional."

"…it doesn't make sense. Sasuke…he acted like they were really good friends before. He wasn't even mad at her for killing him. Unless…it wasn't really her!" he exclaims. Typical, I bet Kurama already knows, and then we're going to have to explain it to the buffoon later.

"But why would she say it was her if it wasn't? And if it wasn't really Armatage who killed Sasuke, then who was it?"

I roll my eyes silently. I really hate having to explain things to ignorant people, let alone the one who's supposed to be the Spirit _Detective_; as in, it's really supposed to be his job to figure it out, and not mine.

"Itachi Izumi, his brother, killed Sasuke. As for why the dragon was so eager to have Spirit World as an enemy and to constantly be running away from them, I don't know. She took off before she told me; said it was none of my business," I reply.

::Yusuke's POV::

"Where exactly did she go Hiei? You know, don't you?" I ask, my eyes narrowing slightly as I try to get him to understand that it's really important that he tell me, even if he doesn't like Armatage.

"…she went to visit an old acquaintance. I believe they're going to visit someone's grave together," he answers cryptically.

"Damn it Hiei! This isn't the time for you to be an–" I start to say, but stop, realizing the meaning of his words.

_An old acquaintance…someone's grave? Itachi! _I think, running out of the house without another word.

I don't even have to bother with calling Botan to ask where Sasuke used to be buried. There's only one cemetery near his old house. I hope I don't get there to late. Armatage doesn't deserve to die, even if she is a pain in the ass sometimes. If a nice guy like Sasuke likes her, she must be a good person.

::Armatage's POV::

I land at the cemetery and retract my wings before I take even one step. It'll be harder for the Detectives to cover up the existence of demons if someone finds my body before them in my normal form. I suppose I can do them that one kindness, since they were kind enough to help me before.

_I fear not death, for it is just the passing from one world to the next. I fear not pain, for it is just the toll to be paid for that passage. I fear not loss, for I have no need for material things there. I fear only for those that I must leave behind, that I cannot watch over them and keep them from harm, _I think to myself, reciting from memory the verses that those who are about to die recite to themselves before they breathe their last. It's supposed to be calming I think, though it does nothing but reaffirm what I already know. I've already died once before. At least now I'm choosing it on my own, and not being tricked by Kushin.

"I don't have to worry about the last part at least. Without his memories of me, Sasuke has no reason to get himself into trouble," I mumble under my breath, smiling lightly at that. I'm glad that he can't remember me. I'm more trouble than I'm worth, and I already cost him his life once. I don't want it to happen again.

I take a deep, shaky breathe before beginning to walk toward the grave. A grave I haven't visited in years. At first because people from Spirit World had been guarding it, but later…I just couldn't bear to come and see it; to read his name and the epitaph beneath it. It's that type of pain that hurts so much it's like being stabbed in the chest, but ten times worse because even though it hurts, the pain isn't manifested through blood or a gaping wound. It's just…just…an emotional agony that only you can feel or know exists.

I stop in front of where the tombstone is supposed to be. The original words have already been erased, only to be replaced by some unknown person's. Most likely it's just some person Spirit World made up to replace the now alive Sasuke.

"So, you really did come after all. For a moment I started to doubt that you would. After all, monsters like you seem to run on survival instincts alone," I hear a voice say. I look up to meet the eyes of a man who looks like an older version of Sasuke. At least, that's how I used to think of him. Now they don't look alike to me at all. It's all in the looks in their eyes. Sasuke's is kind and decent, always full of concern for those around him. Itachi's is…almost too difficult to describe. It's almost as if he knows exactly what's going to happen, but is guarding this knowledge like some all-important secret. At the same time, his eyes speak of the evil in his heart, the aura around him of murderous intent.

"Itachi…there is no doubt in my mind that someone will die today. But tell me…how did you find out about what I was? I always made sure never to transform when others were around, most of all you," I ask, not to stall time, but only because that if I have to die, I don't want any of my questions to go unanswered if I can.

He smirks lightly, chuckling as he lowers his gaze to the ground and kicks a few pebbles with his right foot.

"It's really not as big of a deal as you think. To be honest, my finding out about you was a complete accident."

I stare at him for a moment, trying to understand how that would be possible. Sure, sometimes he would walk around the corner right before I was about to transform, but that was the closest he'd ever come to finding out.

"Still can't figure it out?" he asks after a few moments of silence from me.

"You remember those old toy spy cameras that I got for my birthday one year? I'd asked for them on a whim; thought I could blackmail you or Sasuke just for the fun of it if I put them in the hallways or something. I never expected to find out that the girl I was living with was a dragon. I mean, I always thought you were a bit odd, but not being human was pretty far from what I first thought."

"What did you have against me then? I never hurt any of you, nor did I make it seem like I planned to," I ask, curious to see if I can understand the way Itachi's twisted mind works.

"Ah, I was hoping you'd ask about that," Itachi replies, smiling delightedly as he throws a scroll to me. I catch it in one hand and unroll it.

"…the Izumi family tree? Impressive that it's so old but…what does that have to do with this?" I question as I read through it.

"Some of the earliest generations that can be traced to the Izumi family were alive _before_ the barrier between Human and Demon World was put up. During that time, those born into our family were Dragon Hunters. See, your kind wasn't always as peaceful as they are today. At least, not according to all of the records left behind by my ancestors. I found them all in the basement of our house one day long ago. At first I tried to just make sure that you two didn't spend anymore time together than you had to. But that was too hard, considering you two were so…annoying close. I tried to warn my little brother as best I could without revealing what I knew, but then…it happened."

I growl angrily at his words. Dragon Hunters; I'd been told many stories about them when I was a child. They were a special sect of Demon Hunters that focused entirely on exterminating dragons, hence the name. Why they hated us especially, I'm still not sure.

"What, what happened?" I ask, my hands clenching into fists so hard that I can feel blood seeping through my fingers and onto the ground.

"You both were thirteen at the time. One day I was asked to go get Sasuke from school and drive him to some appointment he had to go to. I guess he must've thought that was the best time to ask me, seeing as you dragons have such good hearing," he continues, taking his time with his explanation especially because he knows I want to know so badly.

"Tell me!"

"He told me…well, to be more precise, he finally admitted that he was in love with you. I'd suspected it for at least a year already, and I'd been dreading the day that he'd actually say it since then. I said everything I could think of to get him to change his mind. "She's not good enough for you; uneducated as she is," or, "You don't really know all that much about her," and I even went as far as to say, "Mom and Dad would never approve of you two." But he wouldn't budge. "I love her, and I don't care if you don't like it either. I just want to know how to tell her," he'd said. Stupid little kid…" Itachi replies.

I choke back a sob at his words. That must've been right before he'd asked me out on our first date. And then later…when he died…

"I couldn't let my brother fall in love with a monster, even if he knew it. I really did mean to shoot you that night. But that little idiot just had to get in the way. Believe me, I do feel regret for hurting my younger brother. But with all the trouble you caused after he died...all it did was show me that I'd been right all along. You're just a worthless monster, a beast that lives on survival instinct alone. And a beast that hurts humans deserves to be put down."

As he says this, Itachi pulls out a gun; similar to the one that he used the night Sasuke was murdered. But this one…it feels…so much more deadly than it had before. What's that smell coming from it? And that strange aura...like death itself.

"My ancestors may not have succeeded in killing all of your kind long ago, but certainly knew how to do it. My method is a bit more modern, but it'll work just the same," he says, grinning enthusiastically as he points it at my heart.

"That smell…the bullet must be made from…"

"I'm not sure what your kind call it, but I only know it as Death Stone. There was a small amount stored in a box left by one of my ancestors. They'd make the tips of their arrows with this specific type of rock. For some reason, whenever dragons came in contact with it, they died, especially if it's broke through their skin. I'm sure in this form it would probably kill more than just dragons, being in a bullet and all. But it's much easier to use than a bow and arrows," he says, smiling as he starts to pull the trigger.

A battle cry rips from my throat as I unsheathe the dagger hidden in my sleeve and charge at him. It doesn't faze him though, and he shoots the gun. I just barely manage to dodge it before tackling him to the ground and trying to slit his throat before he manages to pull the trigger on me again.

::Kurama's POV::

I'm already to Sasuke's house with Kuwabara by the time I hear my communicator ring. I open it up quickly as I reach the front door, seeing Yusuke on the screen.

"Kurama, you already know right?" he asks as he runs.

"Yes, I figured it out a little while ago, and Hiei filled me in on what I didn't already know. I'm at the Izumi's right now. Do you think this is the right thing to do? If she's willing to die…do we have a right to make Sasuke remember when she doesn't want him to?" I ask quickly, knowing that by now time can't be on our side.

"Hey, somebody tell me what's going on! Kurama just dragged me out of my house without saying a thing!" Kuwabara demands. Yusuke ignores him and keeps going.

"I don't give a damn about whether it's the right thing to do or not. I just know we have to get there and stop Armatage before she gets herself killed. If Sasuke's there, maybe she'll stop; and if he sees her, maybe it'll shock him enough to make him remember. So either way, just get him there as fast as you can," he answers before turning off his communicator, making the screen on my own darken once more.

I turn around only to see Sasuke already standing there on the porch in front of the door. He stares at me without speaking for a few moments. I can see that he does recognize me from somewhere by his expression, but doesn't know exactly who I am yet.

"Sasuke, I need you to come with me, now. Don't ask why and don't refuse. If you don't someone very close to you is going to die," I say, grabbing his arm and pulling him along as fast as I can.

"It's the dragon girl isn't it? The one from my dreams…she isn't really just a dream is she? She's real!" he asks, not even trying to resist as he follows me. I increase my pace and he tries to keep up as best he can.

"You bet she's real! And without you she'll die, so we have to get to wherever she is real quick like Urameshi said," Kuwabara tells him.

"Me? But I'm not even sure who she is. I know she's important to me but…I don't know why. What could I possibly do?" Sasuke asks.

"You have to be a man and save her of course!" Kuwabara exclaims.

"Unfortunately, saving her may involve hurting or even killing your older brother. Are you going to be alright with that?" I ask, glancing behind me at Kuwabara and him as I continue to run.

"…yeah…I'll be fine. I just…I get this feeling…that I used to love her…" he replies, staring at the ground with a confused look on his face as he follows me.

_At least he remembers something… _I think as I nod in his direction and lead them to the cemetery as fast as I can without completely outrunning them.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Conflicts

Chapter Fifteen: Conflicts

Author's Note: Okay people, I know there are plenty of you that are either very pissed at me for taking so long, or wondering if I've been killed. No, I'm still alive, and I'm very sorry that this took so long. So, to make up for that, I made this an extra long chapter. Bad thing about it is, it's so long, that I'm going to have to make another chapter to end this. But hey, at least it ends on an even number, right? Anyway, this took so long because I was having a huge case of writer's block because…well, this is an important part in the story, and I couldn't decide what to do; too many ideas, rather than a lack of them. Also…well, my computer has a teensy little virus that makes everything run slower than frozen molasses. So…yeah, makes it hard to write this when you can't type faster than words a minute on here. Now that everyone knows, be patient with me because my computer is retarded and wants to make my life a living hell since it knows I wanted to write this up so badly. I'll try to get the last chapter up as soon as I can.

:Armatage's POV::

Though Itachi's pitiful human strength should be nothing compared to mine, he somehow seems to have the upper hand in this battle. It makes sense I suppose, seeing as I've only been rid of my illness for only a couple of days now. My body hasn't had enough time to heal itself properly yet.

Even amongst the chaos of our struggle, my eyes remain on the gun in his right hand and nothing else. There's too slim a chance of my survival for me to risk getting hit by one of those bullets, especially with me as weakened as I am now.

"Why can't you just die, you damned monster!" he yells, firing wildly into air and trying to hit me. I wince slightly when one of the bullets nicks my arm, but it's only a flesh wound, nothing fatal will come of it.

I growl and pin him to the ground, panting hard as I keep all of my weight centered on him to keep him from getting up.

"You've done more harm to Sasuke than I ever will. You thought I was the monster; the demon that would betray your little brother and kill him. But in the end, it was you. _You_ killed your brother, Itachi. It wasn't because you thought I was a threat to him. It's because _you were afraid!_" I say, my claws coming out due to my uncontrolled rage, piercing through my gloves and the skin of his arms.

Itachi still struggles to get me off of him, but to no avail. Though it's difficult to keep him down, I still manage. It would be a lot easier if I hadn't lost so much weight when I was sick. Constantly retching will do that to you, even if it is mostly blood.

"Afraid? Afraid of what exactly; you, Armatage?"

I smile grimly and nod. He just laughs and tells me I'm wrong of course.

"Do you know why a special sect of demon slayers chose to hunt dragons particularly?" he asks in a strangely calm tone.

"Let me guess what your explanation will be. Oh, I know, because we're all evil creatures that deserve to die?" I answer sarcastically.

"Though that may be true, I'm talking about what got it all started. It was one dragon; one exactly like you actually. She just up and went mad one day. There weren't any records left behind to tell me exactly why, but what I do know is that as a result, she killed an entire village of humans. An _entire _village! The few who survived became the first Dragon Hunters," Itachi replies, a look of pure rage coming across his face as he spoke.

"So one dragon did all that eh? Why is she exactly like me then?"

Itachi growls and sends his knee straight into my stomach, knocking the air out of me and throwing me back a couple of feet away.

"She was exactly like you," he says as he slowly gets to his feet, "because she's your namesake. Her name was Armatage as well."

I cough as I struggle to stand, clutching at my stomach in pain as I glare at him angrily. How could he possibly know about that? I mean, I knew about the person I was named after, but…the story is a different matter.

"You know about our tradition then? Naming one of our offspring after an important or revered relative in order to keep the memory of their deeds alive; I always thought my name was rather nice, but I guess your opinion is pretty different, eh?" I reply as calmly as I can. Itachi only glares and points his gun at me again, shooting at me once more before taking out another cartridge of bullets. I duck immediately and just narrowly miss getting hit. So tired…I don't know if I can keep this up for very much longer.

"How…how can you approve of what that…that _beast_ of a woman did?" he screams.

"You've got your stories a little bit mixed up I'm afraid. The late Armatage had a very, very good reason for what she did, at least in her mind she did. I don't approve of her killing all those people but…she was betrayed. She was hurt. What was that saying you humans have? Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned, or something to that effect, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about? No one betrayed her! She just attacked the village for no damn reason!"

I sigh, shaking my head a bit. Itachi's obviously too angry to keep himself thinking clearly; if he wasn't, then he'd know that the only reason I'm telling him the real story is to stall for time while I think of a way to get that gun out of his hand without getting myself killed in the process. I don't actually need to explain my kind's motives for our actions to a human. What's the point anyway? Most of them wouldn't understand, especially this one, being a "Dragon Hunter" after all. Yeah right. The original ones were much more frightening; at least, that was what I was told.

"Stories are passed on in my kind, verbatim. I know what really happened to her. She had offered to help the humans of that particular village because one of the villagers had helped her before then. She owed them a debt. They made a deal: She agreed to help by keeping demons away from the village and their crops, and in turn, they would provide her family with food and water when they were in need of it," I say. This particular story had always caught my attention when it was told to me because it was the story of my namesake, so of course I know it like the back of my hand.

"So they helped her when she helped them, and she still betrayed them! The dragons were nothing but thieves and murderers, backstabbers!" Itachi growls, keeping his gun pointed at me the whole time. I've got his attention now. He won't shoot until he knows what I know. Perfect, as long as I drag the story out, I'll have plenty of time to figure out what to do.

"No, she helped them, and the _humans_ betrayed _her_. After a while they got the idea that the dragons might start taking their food from them by force, like the other demons they'd been protected from,by Armatage, a _dragon_, had done. So, in an attempt to get rid of her, they hired an even more powerful demon. And while Armatage had her back turned, he tried to kill her. Oh, he came close, let me tell you. Managed to get a hand right through her chest through the back, but the idiot missed her heart and ended up dying at the hands of a huge blast of fire from her."

I pause at this part, remembering exactly why my parents had chosen her as my namesake. My father had been alive at the time, though he'd only been a boy, and he remembered how she'd looked, how she'd acted. "Everything you are, from how you look to how you behave…it's all just like her. I bet you could've been her twin," he'd told me once, though he'd only been joking. Heh, history really has a way of repeating itself and biting you right on the ass.

"Ordinarily, she would've been able to heal from a wound like that in a day or so. But she'd been fighting demons all day, completely exhausting all of the energy she normally would've used to heal herself. But you see, while we dragons are normally very kind creatures…we really, _really _hate being tricked and betrayed. She'd trusted the humans, risked her life to protect them in order to repay a debt, and that was how she'd been repaid for her help!" I say, watching Itachi curiously as I speak. He's literally shaking with rage. Obviously, he doesn't believe me.

I inch toward him slowly, barely noticeable at all really. If I can distract him long enough with my story, then I can knock the gun out of his hand. After that…well, I hope Itachi likes Spirit World, 'cause that's where he's heading.

"You lie! They weren't like that at all! The journals said–"

"Let me remind you that the journals you so foolishly cling to are written from the _human's_ point of view, and most of the time, humans are wrong. This was especially true back then when the situation had to do with demons of any kind and humans trying to work together. Our races have always had extremely difficult time trusting each other."

"But–"

"As I was saying," I continue, not letting him more than a word in edgewise. I'm close enough to him now, so even as I speak, I grab the gun out of his hand and break it in half, wincing slightly when one of the bullets inside brushes against my skin. "The late Armatage was very, very angry about being betrayed so suddenly. And, knowing that there was no way she would be able to regain her strength in time to heal herself, she decided that her last act would be one of revenge. So yes, Dragon Hunter, you're right. She did destroy and entire village of humans, and maybe she had gone mad for a brief moment, but her reasons for doing this weren't totally unfounded like you think they were. The original Dragon Hunters probably wrote the version of the story you know in order to inspire more people to hate us, and thereby getting revenge in their place by destroying us."

Itachi backs away slowly. The look in his eyes is...quite honestly perplexing me. He's not afraid, but he's not angry either. He almost looks…happy.

"I don't care. Armatage, I don't care about what happened back then anymore. Reading that story was what first got me to hate you, to be…frightened, of you; of what you are and your inhuman powers. My first thought was that, if that dragon was related to you, then there was a chance that her madness would be passed onto you. Of course, whoever's point of view it is must apply here. To me and the previous Dragon Hunters, it was madness that drove the both of you to kill. But to you…yes, I do see it now. It was revenge. You were hurt too, weren't you? It was because I betrayed you…humans betrayed you," Itachi says slowly. I can't tell if he's mocking me or not. His voice is sincere yet…not quite right. My eyes stay trained on his face, but then I notice a barely perceptible flicker of movement of his hand. Before I have a chance to react, he pulls out another gun and fires it right at me. My wings come out immediately and wrap around my body, unconsciously trying to protect my vitals from being hit.

For the humans that are reading this, I have a question to ask of you. Have you ever tried to touch dry ice? No? Well, of course you wouldn't. Someone responsible would be there and tell you not to touch it because it's so cold, that it can burn you. So cold, that's it hot. I've never touched dry ice myself, but I'm fairly sure the pain from the Death Stone bullet now lodged in my wing is similar, except this is ten times worse than that could ever be. When it first hits, I feel a numbing, painful cold spread throughout that one wing, then it slowly intensifies until it becomes an unbearable burning.

I fall to the ground, groaning loudly in pain. Death Stone…I've heard of what happened to dragons who were hit with it. The aura from it alone causes their blood to freeze in their veins, and once it got to their heart, they were done for. This can't be right. I finally found Itachi. I was going to get my revenge after three whole years of pure anguish…and now I'm going to die because of one stupid bullet?

I hear footsteps moving toward me and look up, seeing Itachi still pointing his gun at me and smiling manically. He kicks one of my wings, and I scream and try to move away from him before he can do it again. The only good thing that came out of it was that he dislodged the bullet in my wing. He must've noticed, because when I try to move away, he shoots a bullet right through my other wing. I'm positive that my shriek of pain is heard all the way from Demon World this time.

"Don't worry, Armatage. You won't be in pain for much longer."

::Sasuke's POV::

When we get to the edge of the cemetery, I hear a sudden gunshot, and a few moments later, another one follows along with a bloodcurdling shriek. The voice is female, and the recognition of who that voice belongs to is so jarring that I instinctively put my hands over my ears to try to shut it out. I wanted to hear her voice again, to talk to her, remember her…but not like this.

The boy with red hair, Kurama, shouts at me to hurry, and I nod quickly, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that wells within my heart at the thought of what could be happening to the dragon girl. The sight that greets me is worse than I could've ever imagined.

She's on the ground, whimpering so pitifully that I can almost feel my heart breaking. And there he stands, pointing a gun at her and preparing to shoot for the final time. I can only see his lips moving. I've never been able to read lips, but I can manage to make out one word: Armatage.

On the way here, Kurama told me that the one who planned to kill the dragon girl…Armatage, is my older brother, Itachi. I don't remember ever having an older brother. But then again, I don't remember living with Armatage either.

Regardless, the moment I see Itachi pointing that gun at her, my body seems to move on its own, a yell of pure rage escaping me as I tackle Itachi to the ground and grab the gun away from him, pointing it at his heart before he has the chance to get it back. He stops struggling the moment he realizes what's happened.

"Well, hello there, little brother. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" he says, his smile friendly. Hearing him talk to me like that, seeing him and knowing for sure that he's real…I remember now. Not everything about him, just one very important memory sticks in my mind: The night he killed me.

"Your fault…it's all your fault I died. Because of you, Armatage suffered then and is suffering now. I won't forgive you. Itachi…I won't ever forgive you!" I scream, pressing the gun into his chest angrily. He grabs my wrist, but doesn't try to move my hand away.

"Come now, Sasuke. You know you can't kill me. I'm your brother. Killing you was a complete accident. I had only meant to kill her. I'd never purposely hurt you. Besides, we both have the same calling. I'm a Dragon Hunter, which means you are too. You should be helping me finish that monster off, not threatening me," he says.

I narrow my eyes at him and shake my head. I don't care if he thought he was doing the right thing. I may not remember all that much about Armatage, but I do remember enough to know that she was a good person back then, and still is now.

"You're wrong. We don't have the same calling. I care about Armatage, even now, when I can only barely remember her. You just want to kill her. The only monster here is you, Brother. So, I guess that means I'll be helping you finish the monster off after all," I reply, pulling the trigger on the gun and sending a bullet straight through his heart. Itachi struggles for a moment, his hand reaching up as if to grab my throat, but he's dead before he can even touch me.

His grip on my wrist slackens, and I get up slowly, his blood splattered on my clothes and face. Kuwabara only stares at me, obviously stunned by my actions.

"It couldn't be helped. If I had let him live, he would've just kept on trying to kill her," I say, and I can tell he knows I'm right.

Kurama is kneeling down beside Armatage, trying to assess how badly she's been hurt. I can only see a bullet hole in each wing. No blood…how strange. I kneel by her other side and touch one wing as gently as I can, then pull back immediately when she screams.

"Don't touch her unless I tell you to," Kurama commands sternly. I nod shakily, staring at my hand silently. When I touched her wing…it was like touching a block of ice. I grab Itachi's gun and empty the bullets out of it, touching one, and getting the same sensation I got from touching her wing.

"The bullets are freezing her blood somehow. I don't know of anything that can cure that," Kurama says suddenly, as if he knows what I was thinking. I stare at her wings silently, seeing that half of both of them have changed to a much paler blue, while the rest remains the usual sapphire.

_Using what little demonic energy she has left to keep this at bay. How much longer can she do that?_ I think worriedly.

Two other people arrive a few moments later. One has spiky black hair and clothes to match. The other is…the boy who was talking to me at school this morning. What's his name again? Yusuke…something, I think.

"What happened to her? She really got Itachi?" Yusuke asks.

"He shot her with bullets made from a rare type of stone only found in Demon World. It's been a long time since it was last used. They're killing her, though slowly. There's nothing I can do to stop it."

The look on everyone's face is grim. Armatage looks as if she doesn't even know we're here, like all of her senses are blocked because of the pain. This whole time all she's been able to do is whimper and moan in pain, barely even moving either. I don't even want to imagine how excruciating this must be for her.

The one dressed in black draws his sword from its sheath. I can already tell who he plans to use it on and I instantly grab Armatage and pull her away from him. Her claws scratch at my chest and arms weakly, but she doesn't do anything more than that in protest.

"Hiei, what the hell are you doing? Slicing her up won't help her!" Kuwabara exclaims.

"Neither will waiting for that stone to kill her. Trust me; I'm doing her a mercy. Now let the dragon go or I'll skewer the both of you," the one called Hiei says as he advances toward us.

"You sound like Kushin."

When he hears me say that, he stops and lowers his sword. I know Armatage is in pain, but there has to be a better way to help her than just killing her. I won't allow her to die again. I don't think I could take it.

"There may be…one other way. But you won't like it," Kurama says, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What is it? Will she live if we do it?" I ask eagerly. Any alternative is way better than Hiei's plan.

"…she will live…if we cut off her wings," he replies simply.

I take back that statement about any alternative being better…

"But she…Armatage won't be able to…are you sure that's the only other way?" I ask, staring at her wings as I speak. That would mean a living hell for Armatage, not being able to fly. But…I know she doesn't want to die again.

"That's it. You have to decide, Sasuke."

"What? Why the hell should I decide? We should be asking her, not me. She's the one who'll get her wings hacked off!"

"Armatage isn't coherent enough to decide anything. You're the one she's closest to, so it's your choice, and I suggest you hurry it up," Hiei answers, pointing to her wings as he speaks. I look down and see that almost all of her wings are now a pale blue. The effects of the stone are spreading, and are almost getting to the rest of her body. Once it does…there won't be any other option left but to kill her.

"…fine, just do it quickly, alright?" I answer, shifting Armatage in my arms slightly to make it easier for Hiei to cut away her wings cleanly. She squirms and whimpers in my arms like a little kid, trying to make me let go. I only tighten my grip on her as best I can.

"I'm so sorry, Tage. If you never forgive me, I'll understand," I whisper in her ear. Hiei waits until she's stopped moving before swinging his sword down and cutting through both wings at once easily. Armatage screams in agony and starts clawing at me much harder now. I wince and have to bite my tongue just to keep from crying out, but I never let go of her. Seeing her like this makes whatever was blocking my memories in the first place instantly finally finish disappearing. I almost wish I couldn't remember. Seeing my best friend like this, the girl I lived with since I was eight years old…the girl I fell in love with…it's…it's almost too much for me to bear silently.

After a few minutes, Armatage gives up on trying to make me let go of her and just lies still. Kurama lifts up the back of her shirt and applies a medicine made from one of his plants that stops the bleeding quickly. She didn't move when he touched her back, only whimpered softly.

While all this is happening, Yusuke is calling Botan to come and get Itachi to take him to Spirit World. They're going to take care of all that for me, and I won't be in any trouble for killing him. Even now, I can't get myself to feel as guilty about it was I should feel. There'll be time for that later, I suppose.

"I'll take her back to my place, alright?" I say, picking Tage up as carefully as I can. By now she's finally passed out from the pain and fatigue racking her body. I'm glad. That makes this a little easier to do. I look down, seeing her wings crumbling into dust on ground, and shudder slightly.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Hiei asks, wiping the blood off of his sword and sheathing it once again.

"There's no other place for her to stay, and even if there was, there's no way I'm going to let her stay by herself while she's healing," I answer before I begin walking back home. My parents aren't home when I get there, out with some friends from work, no doubt.

_God, if it weren't for her wings being gone, it'd feel like we're kids again. She always used to fall asleep somewhere in the house, and then I'd have to carry her to bed,_ I think to myself, sighing as I bring her to my room and lay her down on the bed, careful to make sure she stays on her stomach so she doesn't put pressure on her wounds.

I move the chair at my desk in front of the bed and sit there, watching her sleep silently. She still looks like she's in pain, but it doesn't seem to be as bad from what I can tell. Every now and then she groans or mumbles something in her sleep. Other than that, she's quiet and unmoving.

"I'm sorry I had to do this to you, Tage. But I swear, I won't ever let anything bad happen to you, ever again," I whisper to her, even if she can't hear me while she's asleep.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: I Never Meant to Hurt Y

Chapter Sixteen: I Never Wanted to Hurt You

(Okay people, this is the last chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I'm a little sad that this has to end, but everything eventually does, right? Plus…well, my friend has been bugging me to work on the Naruto fanfic she made me start…and I think she's about ready to kill me for stalling so much. I'm kind of afraid to post it here because the main character reminds me of Armatage too much, and that's what my reviewers might end up saying. But hey, it's hard to come up with a character that isn't a Mary Sue, as everyone seems to think my characters are unless they're deathly ill, but oh well. On with the last chapter!)

::Sasuke's POV::

I'm jolted awake by the sound of Armatage groaning in pain. I look around, seeing that it's already morning again. I must've dozed off while I was watching her.

"Tage, you awake?" I ask, touching her cheek with my fingertips just barely to see if she reacts. While I was watching her, she would mumble something in her sleep, or whimper in pain, but she hasn't woken up once since she passed out.

She looks around for a moment, not realizing where she is until she looks back at me and smiles weakly. She isn't screaming at me, so I guess she hasn't noticed her missing wings yet.

"Sa…suke?"

"Yeah, it's me. How're you feeling? You've been passed out for hours now. It's already morning," I tell her, smiling as I brush a few strands of hair away from her eyes. She smiles back and tries to shrug her shoulders casually, a sudden, sharp intake of breath telling me that she's in a lot of pain still. I'll have to go ask Kurama for more of that medicine.

"My back kind of hurts. My wings must be numb though, I can't feel them at all. Kurama probably put something on them to take the pain away, right?" she asks, trying to look behind her to see her wings without straining her back too much. I put a hand on the left side of her face to block her view. It's better if I can tell her first, rather than her finding out about this all on her own.

"Tage…when Itachi shot you, whatever those bullets were doing to you was spreading fast. There was nothing we could do. If we waited too long, it would've killed you for sure. Kurama didn't have anything to cure you either. We…we had to…" I can't even bring myself to say it. Armatage just watches me curiously as I speak. I know she trusts me completely just by the look in her eyes, and I hate myself all the more for it. After this, I'll never be able to earn that trust back again.

"They're gone, aren't they? My wings, I mean," she says in a surprisingly calm tone. I expected screaming, crying, anger, _something_, but not this. She's not mad at all, at least not from what I can see.

I lower my gaze to the floor and nod sullenly. She doesn't say anything after that. Maybe it's the shock of losing the one thing that made her capable of flight. I've always known that when she was flying, it was the happiest time of her life. I took that away from her. She'll never fly again…all because of me.

I see a few droplets of water hit the floor, and look up at her. I haven't seen her cry since…the day she told me about everything that had happened to her. That was so many years ago. How long has she been holding back tears like these for me, and for all the other things that have happened to her?

"Tage, I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to you d–" she cuts me off when she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down to her level, sobbing softly into my shoulder. I freeze for a moment, wondering what I should do. Tage has always been so strong, seldom needing comfort from a weak human like me. But I guess…when she does need it, then she must truly be miserable. I wrap my arms around her small frame, careful of the wounds on her back. I never realized that I had actually grown taller than her up until now.

"You brought me back, Tage. The least I could do was keep you from dying. You were…in so much pain, I just couldn't stand to see you like that. It brought back all the stuff you made me forget. And when I saw what Itachi was doing to you… I just…I don't think I was even that mad when Kushin killed you. I shot him. I actually killed my own brother."

She gasps softly and lets me go, staring at me in shock. Armatage must not have thought to ask about Itachi yet.

"I'm sorry…Sasuke," she mumbles, a look of self-loathing in her eyes.

"What? Why are you sorry? _I'm_ the one that did it. I hate to say it but…I think it's a good thing. You don't have to worry about him coming after you anymore," I say, smiling as reassuringly as I can while reaching out and wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"I've made you into a killer. You were supposed to live out the rest of your life as a normal human. That was what I wanted for you more than anything. You would've been so much safer…"

"What the hell is so great about being normal, eh?"

Tage stares at me curiously, wondering what I mean by that. I laugh quietly and smile at her confusion.

"You're not normal, not by human standards anyway. And yet, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Sure, I got killed by my brother. But Itachi was an insane ass who thought you were a monster. The important thing is that to me, you'll never be a monster. For as long as I can remember, I have always thought of you as the most beautiful girl I've ever met." Hearing this makes Tage blush, and I struggle not to laugh. It's a rare thing to ever see her embarrassed by what someone else has said about her.

::Armatage's POV::

I can already feel my face heating up when he says that. I don't particularly like being complimented, but I don't snap at the guy as long as it's Sasuke who's giving the compliments. I still don't see what makes me worth all the trouble he's gone through. He would've been able to live a normal, happy life if I hadn't interfered with it. Then again…Itachi still would've found all of that stuff about his ancestors…he would've shown it to Sasuke…and Sasuke would've…ended up hating my kind. Maybe it really _is_ a good thing that I came into his life.

"Well…I suppose there's nothing I can do about it now. What's done is done. I won't try to have your memories erased anymore, promise," I say after a time. Sasuke smiles happily and nods.

"We can just pick up where we left off before all of that happened, right? I'll start teaching you what I'll be learning in school. Though maybe I'll ask Kurama to help us a little since I had to miss a few years of school too, but still, it'll work out," he says, trying to take my mind off of all that's happened to us by mentioning something he knows will make me happy.

I only nod my head in reply before trying to sit up slowly. He tries to tell me to lie back down, but I ignore him and manage to sit up without hurting myself too much; at least…not enough to cry out, anyway. I actually feel a little lighter without my wings, but it's a strange feeling to have, as if I'm missing part of myself. But…it's not just physically missing, like some part of my soul was cut away along with my wings.

"Am I…really fit to call myself a dragon now?" I ask, the question directed more at me than at him.

He stops talking and stares at me for a few moments, trying to think of the best way to answer me, no doubt. Poor Sasuke, I don't think I can even fathom how guilty he must feel about all of this.

"…well, there are lots of demons with wings, aren't there?"

"Yes, that's true," I reply.

"But they're not dragons _just_ because they have wings, right?"

"Of course not, they're just privileged enough to have wings, though most misuse this privilege of course, as expected of lowlife demons like them…"

"What sets you apart from them besides just _looking_ different?" he asks.

I hadn't thought of that before, but…Sasuke does make a good point. There are other demons with wings. They're not dragons like me. What _does_ set me apart from them? I shrug my shoulders after a few moments, not able to come up with the answer. He smirks, as if the answer should be obvious to me.

"You really don't know?"

I shake my head in response.

He laughs and points at my chest. Okay...what does that mean? My heart? No…I have the heart of a demon, just like they do. What else is there? My…fire, that's it! My fire is what makes dragons different from other demons! Having this fire…makes me a dragon…not my wings. I look up at him and smile.

"I get it now. It's my fire. I guess my wings are just a perk, huh?" I say, shrugging my shoulders weakly and wincing in pain at the gesture.

"Something like that, I suppose. The point is that you don't have to have wings to be a dragon as long as you have your fire. That's how the story goes, right? (Author's Note: Story from chapter seven.) You should get some more rest, okay? I'll go get you something to eat," he says, kissing my forehead affectionately before leaving the room.

::Sasuke's POV::

That seemed to cheer her up a bit. I'm well aware that Armatage will miss her wings a lot…but at least this way, pretending to be a human won't be quite so hard. Besides, it's like I said, just because she has wings, doesn't mean that's what makes her a dragon. I meant that, too.

As I walk into the kitchen, I notice a dark figure leaning against the window.

"Don't bother her now, Hiei. I just got her to calm down," I warn him.

"Hn, who said I was here to bother her? Kurama asked me to drop off more medicine for her back, that's all," he replies, tossing me a small bottle with the ointment Kurama had made. I nod in thanks and put it on the kitchen counter while I start making something for Tage to eat. Minutes pass, and Hiei hasn't left yet.

"What is she going to do?" he asks after a time.

"I don't think she's thought that far ahead yet."

"What will you do if she decides to leave and go back to Demon World?"

I stop what I'm doing and glance up at him for a moment. I hadn't really thought of that. Armatage really might want to go back home once she heals…but what is there left for her there? If she did, it would be because she's still stuck to the idea that her leaving me alone makes me safer.

"…if she wants to leave…then I'll let her. I've always let her make her own decisions, after all. I don't see any reason why she would _want_ to leave though. At least here, she has a home…even if it is among humans," I reply honestly.

"You do realize that if you had never met her, you would never have died. You never would've had to kill your own brother, either. In essence, the reason for most of the hardships in your life is because of you having met her. But you still want her to stay… Why is that?" Hiei asks, clearly confused by this, though neither the tone of his voice, nor the look on his face reveals this fact to me.

"I'm perfectly aware of that…but I can't place blame on her for it. You can't change the past, so why dwell on it? What would've happened to her if we hadn't met? What if she had stayed in Demon World instead of coming here accidentally? She probably would've died, and a once great race would've become extinct. And even if she had come here, there was a pretty good chance that she would've been picked up by the police and experimented on by the government or something. Either that, or Spirit World would've taken her and she would've gotten into trouble for being around humans. So…even if bad things ended up happening to both of us…I think our meeting was the best thing that could've happened under the circumstances," I answer calmly.

Hiei just stares at me silently before turning his head and looking out the window. I finish making Tage's food and pick the plate up to bring it to her.

"The dragons end with her, and the Izumi Family Demon Slayers with you," Hiei says as I cross the room. I stop at the entrance to the hallway and turn back to look at him.

"You're right about the Demon Slayers. I plan on taking all the artifacts Itachi found and either burning them all or hiding them someplace where nobody will ever find them. But as for the dragons…well, you never know. There may be a few more out there that didn't get sick. Demon World's a big place, isn't it?" I say before turning my back to him and walking away.

::Hiei's POV::

My communicator rings almost as soon as the boy leaves. I sigh frustratedly and open it, Yusuke's face appearing on the screen.

"How is she?" he asks worriedly.

"Alive, and able to talk."

Yusuke glares at me, probably angry at me for being so vague. I don't see why he needs an answer better than that. She's alive, shouldn't he be happy with just that? When we first met her, everyone hated her, including me. Why everyone is suddenly so worried about her, I don't understand.

"Is she mad?" the Spirit Detective asks. I shake my head in reply. I haven't heard any yelling yet, so I can only assume that she's either very sad, or too shocked to yell at anyone yet.

"The boy's calm, and as far as I can tell, so is she."

"Botan finally caved and told us everything that _really_ happened. Now that Koenma knows, Armatage has been cleared of all charges concerning Sasuke's death. And as for all of those humans she killed afterwards…he's decided to call it a bout of temporary insanity. So Spirit World is going to be keeping an eye on the both of them from now on, to makes sure it doesn't happen again," Yusuke says. I can tell just from the tone of his voice that he's relieved that this all turned out for the better.

"If they're under Spirit World's protection, then it isn't likely that they'll ever be bothered by demons or anyone else who wishes them harm again. That's good. I'm tired of cleaning up after the dragon when she goes on a killing spree."

Yusuke smirks and laughs quietly.

"You just wish it was you killing all those humans, huh?" I allow myself a slight smile and nod ever so slightly.

"I hope they'll be happy now. After all those two have been through, they deserve a little peace," he says, saying goodbye and turning off his communicator a moment later.

::Armatage's POV::

I wince and bite back a cry of pain when I sit up on the bed as best I can when Sasuke comes back with a plate of food and a bottle of what looks to be medicine.

"Hiei dropped this off for Kurama. Turn around, I'll help you put it on," he says as he sits down on the chair beside the bed and opens the bottle. I nod and turn around, lifting the back of my shirt up slightly. Sasuke starts putting the medicine on my wounds and I whimper softly in pain when it starts to burn.

"The stuff Kurama makes really is amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if you were all healed up in a few days."

I nod silently and try to stay quiet. He knows that I'm in pain, no matter how well I manage to hide it, so he's trying not to press too hard. I feel…oddly light, without the extra weight of my wings. I suppose it's just something I'll have to get used to. Sasuke's never had wings, and it doesn't bother him. So I don't see why I can't get along without them…eventually.

Sasuke finishes applying the medicine, and I manage to do most of the bandages by myself. He was blushing so much at the thought of trying to do it himself that I offered to just do it without his help.

He sits down on the bed beside me and hands me my plate of food once I've finished. I'm not really all that hungry, but I eat it anyway. Sasuke will only tell me that I need to keep my strength up, after all.

"Armatage…you remember what happened that day, right?" he asks after a time. I can tell by the tone of his voice that he means the day he was killed.

"…what about it?"

"Well, I'm not really talking about _that_ part of the day. I meant earlier. You know…when we went out?" he says. I blush lightly and nod.

"Of course I remember. Why do you ask?"

"Well…you see…there was something that I had wanted to do back then that Itachi kind of interfered with…" he says. I turn to look at him and see that he's blushing and staring at the floor in an attempt to avoid eye contact with me.

"What was it?" I ask. Sasuke looks up at me for a moment before moving closer, putting a hand on the back of my head and pulling me closer to him until our lips meet. My eyes widen slightly in surprise before slowly closing as I kiss him back.

I can't honestly say that I haven't been kissed before now. Kushin kissed me before, after all. But that was way different than this. He was only doing it to trick me into giving him my fire. And even though he had looked like Sasuke at the time, he sure didn't kiss like the real Sasuke does. I can feel how much he cares for me through this one simple gesture of affection. And I know for sure now that when he's said that he loves me, he truly meant it every time.

He pulls away and stares into my eyes, blushing as badly as I know I must be. On our first date, (we were reluctant to even admit it was that), we had just wanted to see what it would be like, to be more than friends, I mean. We had both agreed that if it was just too awkward, we'd forget it ever happened and continue with just being friends. I can still remember…that whole time he had looked like he had wanted to tell me something, but he was scared. I wonder…

"That day…" he says, "I had it all planned out in my head. We were going to have a great time on our date. Then, when we went home, I was going to stop you at the door so we could watch the sunset. I remembered how you used to say that you thought the way the sun set was prettier here than in Demon World, so I knew you wouldn't think it was stupid to admire it for a few minutes."

I smile and nod slowly as he tells me this. Sasuke always seemed to remember the most miniscule details of everything I told him. Sometimes it was annoying, like when he was reminding me of things I was supposed to do. But at times like this…it was a quality he had that I really liked.

"I had planned on kissing you right as the sun finally went down, so you'd be happy enough from seeing the sunset not to kill me for it." He laughs and I shake my head silently before he continues. "And…before you could get mad at me…I was going to tell you something, and pray that you wouldn't reject me, or that our friendship would be ruined by it at the very least."

I blush again and stare at him curiously for a few moments before asking what he had wanted to tell me. I have a feeling I already know the answer, but it always sounds so much better when I get to hear him say it.

"I love you."

I'd heard Sasuke tell me that sometimes when we were kids, and I'd say it back. But back then…it wasn't really that personal. We were young enough only to be able to think of each other as brother and sister, in a way. When you say you love someone at that age…you don't mean it nearly as much as you do when you're older. When I hear him say it now, I know Sasuke means it in much more than a brotherly way. He doesn't see me as a sister, or just some girl staying with his family that he has to watch out for anymore. I smile and hug him, the pain I should feel from my back doesn't come, and I wonder if hearing those words from him has anything to do with it.

"I love you, too, and that will never change."


End file.
